Downward Sword
by TornadoSoup
Summary: It has been centuries since the events of Skyward Sword took place, and now a new Link - a freshly-crowned prince of Hyrule - is in trouble when his sister Zelda is kidnapped. Desperate times call for desperate measures, so when Link finds a powerful sword spirit who says he can help, who is he to turn down the offer? GhiraLink. Gets progressively more mature
1. Chapter 1

**This story is dedicated to Jack: the bane of my life. I loath you with all my heart.**

 **Seriously do you even ship these guys please don't read this**

 **.**

I could feel every eye in the room trained on my back as I knelt before the King of Hyrule. As a child I'd looked forward to this day, and as I grew up a little I had started to dread it. Now it was happening, I was right in the middle of it, and all I could feel was how much effort it was to speak loud enough to be heard in the great hall.

"Do you swear allegiance to Hyrule, now, and for as long as you shall live?" The King said, holding an elegant sceptre before me. It was silver, the tip encrusted with an emerald. The King owned a ruby one made of gold, and the Queen a sapphire one. The silver sceptre was for the heir.

I placed a hand on the sceptre my father offered me, and looked him dead in the eye.

"I, Link, prince of Hyrule, do pledge life and limb to your service, and to the protection of this kingdom and its people."

Father smiled. It reached his eyes, the skin around them crinkling. He turned away from me for a moment.

"Now, being of age, and heir apparent," he declared, presenting a crown that I barely saw before it rested on my sandy hair, "from henceforth you shall be Crown Prince of Hyrule."

Everyone began to clap, which was my cue to stand. Father beamed at me and clapped a hand on my shoulder, before turning me to face my subjects. The great hall was filled with faces I mostly didn't recognise, probably from lower down or from other kingdoms. I spotted Zelda out of the corner of my eye, up at the front of the hall like me but to the side, swept away to put the focus on myself. She was smiling brighter than anyone else, and applauding in quite an unrefined manner for a princess. I couldn't help but smile.

I was glad that we were seated together at the celebratory feast afterwards, since I hadn't been able to see her for a couple of days, too busy preparing for my coronation.

"Good evening, Prince Link!" My sister said as we were seated, a huge grin on her face. I grinned back at her.

"My lady, so good of you to join us this evening!" I said in my most noble-sounding accent. (I only really used it when talking to other people of nobility; my sister and I found far too strange to use all the time.)

"Well, rumours were that the food tonight is supposed to be _super_ good." She whispered excitedly, and I had to laugh.

Zelda was easily my best friend. We were only just over a year apart in age, which I think helped us understand each other easier. It was such a relief to have her by my side at the end of the ceremony, since royal duties were so rehearsed and stuffy and Zelda was like a breath of fresh air. She was charming, hilarious and always knew just when I was getting overwhelmed with conversation, at which point she'd tactfully take over to give me a break. She was only just nearing seventeen this summer and she was already a brilliant young woman. Everybody thought so.

"I convinced Dad you'd need a copilot tonight," Zelda said as we were served our first course.

I smiled and squeezed her arm. "Thanks."

.

After a drink or two, the smiles came easier to me, conversations becoming smoother and less awkward. I had to be social at this party, Father had told me, since this was where I could start to build on allegiances and become acquainted with my future subjects. Zelda had made sure I didn't drink too much, which I noted I'd have to thank her for afterwards as I watched some red-faced earl or ambassador of some sort practically topple over on the other side of the hall.

I spotted Father and he beckoned me over. As I got close he said, "Are you still alright to dance?" to which we both laughed. I nodded, and he gestured to the band, who started playing dancing music. Zelda appeared out of nowhere and I offered my hand, leading her out onto the dance floor.

It was customary for the Prince to dance first at his coronation, but thankfully this was a tradition I could handle with ease. I loved dancing, and Zelda was an excellent partner. We twirled around the dance floor and even got an applause before we were joined by the other guests.

If you'd have walked in on the scene, you would have thought it was Zelda's coronation if it weren't for the crown on my head. She looked radiant, twirling gracefully in her purple gown, her golden hair matching its movements as they fanned out in the spin, and exuding a confidence that I don't think I'd ever own, not when off the dance floor or a horse's back.

"Are you doing alright?" Zelda asked me, and I nodded.

"Just can't wait till your coronation, I think." I laughed, but Zelda looked concerned.

"You can't just expect me to take the crown from you when it's time to inherit the kingdom." She said sternly, and I almost tripped as I tensed. Zelda continued regardless. "It's true that you didn't ask to be born first, but you're a strong leader when you need to be, Link. You're not going to struggle as King."

I grimaced, but she only pushed my hair out of my face and adjusted my crown while in mid-step.

"I'll be there to back you up anyway, promise." She said, and smiled so genuinely that I couldn't help but return it. I pulled up my arm to twirl her as a wordless thank you, but as she span away from me there was a great _crash_ from the other side of the room.

People started screaming. Glass fell everywhere like diamond rain as the windowpanes along the south wall shattered. Zelda jolted to a stop. I saw my mother running towards us and my father draw his sword, which I copied. They were ceremonial, but they'd still do a lot of damage to any unwanted intruders.

I tried to see what had happened and ran towards the windows where father was stood, and as the guests quickly cleared out I saw the golem, easily ten feet tall and stood in one of the empty windows, looking down at us. The night sky behind him was pitch black and seemed to swallow the light so that he was barely more than a shadow, but I'd read enough about golems to know one when I saw it. He appeared to be made from tree bark and sticks.

He jumped down into the hall.

Father shouted and ran at him, but the monster knocked him down like it was shooing away a fly. I stood my ground as it began to walk forward, and I heard my mother scream.

The scream didn't really register until I also noticed that I was on the floor, and the side of my head hurt. I looked up to see the golem walking towards my mother and sister in seemingly slow motion, and I scrabbled for my sword. I was moving far too slowly as I watched my mother get pushed down, and my sister get snatched up by a single, giant hand. I managed to get up as the golem turned back towards the windows, but before I knew it he had knocked me down again and my head was killing. All sound carried in slow motion and as my vision blurred, the last thing I saw before I blacked out was my sister being snatched away.


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up to my ceiling staring back at me in the flicker of candlelight. I looked down to see I'd been changed into my night robes and felt the pressure of a bandage round my head. My heart sank.

"Master Link! You're awake," a soft voice said, and I heard quiet footsteps make their way over to my bed. Colin looked down at me warily. "Are you feeling alright?"

I swallowed. My head hurt a little bit but I didn't really care, although...

"No," I grumbled, sitting up in bed. Colin immediately scrambled away to fetch me water, and came back with a glass. I took it from him even though I wasn't thirsty. "Thanks, Colin." I said, and took a small sip. "Do we know where my sister is?"

Colin looked heartbroken. "No," he said, and the news would've hurt anyway, but it felt so much worse to see how other people were devastated by the incident as well.

"It's my fault," I groaned, staring into the glass in my hands. "I was there, I was right between her and that thing,"

"Oh no, Link!" Colin said, hands clenched tightly together and his face looking even more upset, "Everyone who was there thought you were very brave to stand up to that monster! It was bigger than a skulltula!"

I smiled weakly at Colin. He was only just sixteen and quite new in the palace household, but he was incredibly kindhearted and a great listener. I considered him my friend, even if by social class we were supposed to be leagues apart.

"Are my parents alright?"

Colin nodded, looking relieved as he did. "They told me to make sure you were comfortable before I left for the night."

I looked over at the candle, which was quite short. "How long have you been here, Colin?"

Colin looked a little guilty. My smile became genuine.

"Thank you. I'll make sure you get paid for the extra hours."

"Oh no Link, really it doesn't matter." He said, going off to pick up a small table and place it by my bed. He took the water out of my hands and placed the glass there. He was starting to busy himself to avoid this conversation, but I noticed how his movements were a little sluggish. His eyes looked tired, too.

"Colin, please go home and get some rest." I said firmly, but as he looked back at me I smiled. "Really, thank you for staying with me."

Colin smiled back and bowed. "Goodnight, Master Link," he said, and left the room swiftly and as quiet as a mouse.

I looked around the bedchamber and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. The candle was glaring a little bit, so I got up and blew it out. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness and I watched the smoke curl into the air, I thought I heard a whisper.

" _Link_...?"

I froze in place and listened, straining my ears for what I wasn't sure was real or just a trick of the wind.

" _I'm waiting for you_..." The voice was quiet, or muted, or something, but there was a voice and it was outside my door. I padded over and opened it.

" _Link_..." The voice said, now down the corridor. Or was it downstairs?

I followed where I thought the voice was coming from, but it became apparent at some point that this voice wasn't just coming from a _place_. I could hear it inside my head, and it was pulling me somewhere.

"What are you?" I whispered in the dark, but the voice didn't reply.

I was pulled down far into the bowels of the castle, having to sneak past guards and serving staff for fear of being questioned. I managed to make it to the crypts, which weren't guarded, just locked, and I had the keys to practically every door on a chain that I'd been awake enough to bring with me.

I had only been down to the crypts twice: once with Zelda as small children, somehow sneaking through the bars of the locked metal door; and once with my father when I was much older, him thinking it was my first time down there.

It was darker than I remembered, but that might have been because I had no torch.

As I walked down a steep staircase, I thought I could see an oil lantern on a weathered table below. As I approached it I found matches, and quickly lit the lantern. As the oil caught fire and heat was briefly wafted into my face, I realised just how cold it was down here and shivered.

I wiggled my exposed toes and stepped forward across the stone floor, trying to keep warm through movement. I walked to the end of the crypt where I knew the earliest tombs were.

Each grave included an elaborate carving of the one who slept there, and I remember discovering the first king and queen with Zelda and delighting in the fact we shared their names.

" _She looks like you,_ " I'd told my sister, pointing to the first Zelda. She'd giggled and pointed to a different queen and said the same thing about me.

I hoped to Hylia that she was okay.

As I ran my thumb across Link I's crown, a modest band across his forehead, I noticed the crack in the floor next to his tomb. I lowered my lantern to see and saw there was _definitely_ an opening down there, shadows cast much too far down the crack for it to just be a space between stones.

I tried pushing the tombstones to the side and found they moved quite easily, like they were on some kind of rail, and that there was a staircase underneath. Naturally, with my brilliant common sense, I followed them.

The stairs lead to a tiny room filled with gilded chests, some with locks on and some not. I opened the unlocked ones and found medallions with heart-shaped rubies at the centre, chests filled with hundreds of gold rupees and finally a small golden harp.

I picked it up and plucked a string. It sounded beautiful but sort of eerie in the crushing quiet of the tomb, so I put it back. Then as I turned, I noticed a single dark chest. It was made of the same metal as all the others but the decorative gold plating wasn't there, as if to insult whatever was inside.

 _Or_ , I thought, noticing the lock, _to warn you not to open it._

It was a large chest, or rather long, so I couldn't pick it up. As I fumbled with the lock though, it practically broke into pieces in my hand. I stared down at the dark metal and frowned. Why was this lock broken? I pulled at locks on other chests and they all stayed in tact. What was so different about this chest? What had broken the lock?

Tentatively, I lifted the lid.

There was a sword inside. Just a sword, though a strange one at that. The blade was a sort of zigzag shape, like a row of diamonds overlapping each other. There was an upside-down Triforce on the base of the blade, which made it look sort of evil - intimidating to look at, even. It was almost as large as I was tall, and dark as the velvet it lay on.

"Awfully luxurious interior to hold a sword," I mumbled to myself, wrapping a hand around the hilt. As I did, a yellow light glowed under my hand and quickly twisted up around the jagged blade. I snatched my hand back and held it protectively against my chest as the light physically transformed the sword, and the blade thinned and smoothed out into what resembled a broadsword. The Triforce vanished and the creepy black steel hilt melted into a smoothed tungsten.

And that was it, it stopped after that, and the glow dimmed. I stared at the sword in bewilderment.

"It's really not polite to stare, you know."

I almost dropped the lantern. The voice was loud amid the silence of the tomb, and it was coming from right in front of me. I looked around anyway, since I couldn't spot the owner.

"Right here," the voice spoke again, and this time the sword glowed yellow again, blindingly bright, until all I could see was white. I hissed in discomfort and backed away a little until my vision cleared.

And when it did, there was someone leaning against the wall next to me.

"Great golden goddesses-" I swore, actually dropping my lantern this time from how much I jumped. The person - man, didn't move, wasn't even looking at me. I blinked, frozen as he examined his fingernails indifferently. "Who in Din's name are you?"

"Quite a mouth you've got there," the man drawled, putting on a glove he held in his other hand and looking up at me. He smirked darkly. "What other tricks can you do with it, I wonder?"

I didn't say anything, and didn't move to pick my lantern up. I was unarmed, and so was he for now, but if something happened I wanted to be able to grab that broadsword quickly. Although, the man didn't seem to be planning any immediate attack - his posture was relaxed and his gaze seemed to be examining me rather than filled with bloodlust. I could only judge from one eye though, the other being covered by straight white hair that reached his chin.

I looked over the rest of him as we stood in tense silence. Underneath a decorative red cloak his clothes were skin tight and as white as his hair, which contrasted with his olive skin. A blue diamond earring hung off his right ear, and the white lipstick and purple under-eyeshadow he wore was enough to make me decide that this man was very peculiar.

The man stretched dramatically.

"Alright then. Shy, are we?" He said, yawning. "I'll introduce myself first, seeing as you came all the way down here. My name is Ghirahim."


	3. Chapter 3

"My name is Ghirahim." The stranger said.

 _That doesn't explain who you are_ , I wanted to say, but thought I'd wait it out. Ghirahim raised a brow and looked unimpressed.

"What happened to your colourful vocabulary?"

I chanced a quick look at the dark broadsword, still lifeless in its case, to reassure me I could fight my way out if needed.

"Where did you come from?"

Ghirahim looked amused. "Why, from my sword, of course." He said, gesturing to the blade, and something clicked in my head. I'd heard of curses and hateful spirits inhabiting objects, creatures possessing people and weapons and-

I backed away.

"Are you an imp?" I asked, trying to sound in-control and ready for a fight.

Ghirahim looked mock insulted. "What?" He practically spluttered, suddenly glaring daggers my way. "How dare you! I'm a sword spirit. Did your father never tell you?"

Now it was my turn to frown, and I regarded him suspiciously. "What would he have to tell?"

Ghirahim stopped leaning on the wall and stood straight, his head almost touching the low ceiling. He looked down at me disdainfully.

"You _are_ Link's son, are you not?"

I blinked, and then remembered who's tomb this was.

"He lived over a hundred years ago." I said.

Ghirahim seemed much less surprised by that than I'd expected. In fact, he just suddenly looked worn down, like when you've been expecting bad news and it's finally confirmed to be true.

"That explains why it's felt like such a long time," he laughed bitterly, and then looked back at me. "You do look like him, though. Are you perhaps a distant relative of his?"

I paused, then nodded, and Ghirahim gave me a knowing look and tapped his temple.

"I sensed you." He said, and then moved over to the broadsword, caressing the blade with one slender, gloved finger. "I've been calling since he locked me down here, but you're the first person I've sensed since he passed." He said this matter-of-factly, even though it sounded like he knew this Link personally. His head snapped back up to look at me, and he grinned. "Would you like to know why we're both here?"

Though I'd never dare admit it to him, I was feeling a bit creeped out by this strange man. On the other hand, I knew I wouldn't be able to feel satisfied at this point unless he explained - I was in too deep. So I nodded.

Ghirahim looked pleased at the prospect of talking more, and sat down on a large gilded chest, legs crossed. I stayed standing as I watched him prepare for what I sensed could be a full fledged monologue.

"Now then, I don't suppose you might have heard of the White Goddess, Hylia...?"

Ghirahim became animated as he told his take on the life of my ancestors, and I almost didn't feel threatened by him as he described the King of the demons so articulately, or how his eyes seemed to light up every time he mentioned the first hero of Hyrule.

"...so you'll have a little bit of the Goddess' blood running through your veins somewhere inside that flesh prison, which is pretty empowering, don't you think?" He finished, smirking at me. I almost returned a cheeky grin until I remembered who and where we both were.

"So if I'm to believe this is all true, then where do you fit in? How do you know all this?"

Ghirahim looked down at his body and gestured to himself. "I was the Demon King's servant," he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I was his sword spirit!"

His sword spirit. I wanted to kick myself, of course he was Demise's sword spirit. That was the only character in Ghirahim's story that he hadn't named.

"So, you were second in command under the King of the Underworld," I stated bluntly. "Why are you telling me this?"

"I'm praying that my honesty will be enough to earn your trust and you'll free me from this dungeon." Ghirahim said nonchalantly, leaning forward and resting his chin in one hand. "It's awfully dull and cold down here, and I've been locked up for so long. You said it yourself that my captor died over a century ago, that's a dreadfully long time."

I shook my head. _Set him free?_ Did he think I was born yesterday?

"He had reason to lock you up, if you did all that you've said." I argued. "Besides, why can't you just walk out of here, now I've unlocked your chest?"

Ghirahim looked irritated, his thin white eyebrows pulling down into a frown. He sighed like this conversation was exasperating for him, to which I tried to not feel offended by.

"I can't roam by myself for _long_ ," he scoffed. "I've been taken away from my source of power, anyway. Demise is gone and so now I'm confined to my sword. I need someone to wield me or I have no purpose, and that's been interminably boring so far."

I heard a faint noise from upstairs, a door creaking or a guard's chair shifting, something. Again I was reminded of where I was.

"I shouldn't be here," I said, and stood from my leaning position on the cold stone walls of the tomb. Ghirahim was suddenly right in front of me and grabbing my forearm.

"You can't just leave," he hissed, looking me in the eye and glaring. His irises were so dark in the dim lantern light, they almost looked like black voids. I hadn't noticed the black diamond on his cheek either, previously hidden under his hair. To be honest, there was a lot more I wanted to ask him, about himself and my kingdom's past, and I wouldn't be lying if I said that I felt guilty for abandoning a living soul down in the depths of Hyrule castle as well, but what was I supposed to do? Welcome a demon into my home and have him wreak havoc everywhere?

"...I'm sorry." Was all I could manage, and then I pulled away. Ghirahim let me go easily, and didn't try to stop me as I retreated up the staircase, but he did follow me.

"When you touched my sword's hilt, I transformed. You saw it, I know you did." He said, but I didn't turn back to look at him. "You imprinted on me. I'm _your_ sword spirit now, you can't just leave me to rot down here."

I kept walking, until I heard a metallic _shing_ and suddenly he was stood in front of me, blocking the staircase and my only way out of the crypts. For once, he didn't say anything. He just looked at me with cold, judging eyes. I averted my gaze and pushed past him.

"You'll be back, Link." He said as I neared the top of the stairs, which made me stop and turn back to look at him, but he was already gone.

I turned back and proceeded to leave, but I couldn't help feeling a little unnerved that he had somehow learned my name without me giving it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello, readers!**

 **So I'd just like to thank everyone for the follows and favourites so far, wow, I've been noticed!  
**

 **Also (because I've only just checked my notifications) I'd like to thank Carly for reviewing the first three chapters! You seriously made my day:') (And the M Night Shyamalan reference made me laugh out loud, oh dear)  
It's really great to know that people are actually reading this and are intrigued by it, so I hope I can keep up the right tone and pacing!**

 **THANK YOU!**

 **(Also, I'll try to update this fic every day or every other day, since the chapters are quite short)**

 **(Also yes, I totally stole Colin from TP - he's just too adorable!)**

 **(I'll go now)**

"Link." My mother sighed with relief when she saw I was awake. It was around half past nine in the morning, the time I was usually woken up and brought breakfast by Colin or another servant, but today it seemed my mother was doing it.

She pushed open my door all the way with her foot and came in carrying a tray full of food, placing it on my bedside table and hugging me.

"You gave your father and I such a fright last night." She said, putting her chin on my shoulder. "Are you feeling better?" I felt a stab of guilt as I realised that I hadn't just let Zelda down, but worried my parents as well.

"We need to do something about Zelda," I said, letting that be the answer to how I was feeling. "I know she'll be being held captive somewhere, they wouldn't just take her-"

"Link," my mother paused to hold me at arm's length. She looked me over. "Of course we're going to find your sister, your father's looking right this moment, but there's no point in fretting while we still know nothing." She said, and I looked back into her eyes. They weren't the right shape or shade of blue to match Zelda's, too much like my own eyes, but the expression was uncannily identical to my sister's, and that reassured me a bit. Both my mother and sister were wise, and knew how to act in a crisis. While my father and I would want to dive right into a problem, they would always be there to stop us and help us calculate the best plan of action. It reminded me that, wherever Zelda was, she'd be handling the situation to the best of her ability.

"I just want her to be safe," I said weakly, and my mother gathered me into her arms.

.

I practically bolted to the conference hall when my father summoned me, knowing he wouldn't talk to me right now unless it was something important. As soon as I entered, he turned to look at me, face serious but eyes shining determinedly.

"Son," he said, and wrapped me in a strong hug. He examined me after, double-checking for injuries or signs of distress. He nodded when he seemed satisfied with my well-being, and beckoned me over to the main table where all sorts of maps were laid out.

"Have you found her?" I asked, voice betraying my anxiety.

"We think so," my father said, steadily touching a fingertip to a vast forest to the east of the capital. I noticed the annotation on the map.

"The Ancient Woods?" I read aloud.

"I'm quite confident that that's where the golem came from," father said, and reached over the table for an old tome. As he leafed through it I spied old hand-written texts and diagrams of monstrous creatures. He stopped on a page about golems.

"Wood golems originated in those parts, and there's been recent reports of monsters coming out of those woods. We didn't think the issue was bad enough to invade the forest itself; that place is filled with ancient magic you don't want to get involved in. But then, we also didn't anticipate a giant monster to come out of there and make a beeline straight for the palace."

My eyes studied the maps intently as I listened to my father speak. There were several maps all labelled as the same forest, but all with different layouts. Some with lakes, or cliffs, or huge clearings or all three.

"Which map is the most recent?" I said.

"They were all made very closely after one another," my father replied, and I looked up at him. "Apparently the woods... change, once you go inside. They try to make you get lost. Go in there without a clear plan and you could never come back." He said, and I'd never seen my father look so sad.

"I'll go." I said.

My father's eyes widened. "You're not serious,"

I raised my eyebrows. Father glowered at me.

"You'll do no such thing."

"She's my sister."

"And I won't lose both of my children."

"Dad," I said, fists clenching. I didn't dare break eye contact with him or I'd immediately lose this argument. "If that forest spirit wanted Zelda - or any of us - dead, then we'd be dead. But it didn't kill us, it just took her. Why would it make such a scene if it didn't _want_ us to go after her?"

"If you go after her then you'll be walking straight into a trap!" My father said, raising his voice.

"Maybe," I growled, matching his volume, "but I can handle myself! I'd already be dead if it wanted me dead-"

"Enough," he said, authoritative voice booming across the hall. "I won't speak of this with you anymore, Link. Go to your quarters and stay there."

"I'm eighteen, you can't-"

" _GO_."

I gaped, and went quiet, argument dying on my tongue. It was no use when my father got in this state. I glared at him as I left the room even though he could only look at the table, despair swallowing his form.

.

"I'm sure he'll send lots of parties out to search for her, master Link." Colin said as he hung clothes up in my wardrobe. He was trying his best to sound optimistic, but even Colin, trusting as he was, didn't seem to have faith that the Hyrulean soldiers would find Zelda.

"I feel like they want her family to go after her. Why else would they kidnap her in front of all of us?" I said, lying on top of my bed. "And why not take me? I was closer than Zelda, but he barrelled through all of us to get to her." I scratched my head in thought. "I just don't understand."

"Maybe try to get some rest, master Link. Your father wants you up early tomorrow to organise rescue plans, I think."

"I'm not going." I mumbled. Colin stopped and turned to look at me.

"Sorry?"

"Colin," I sat up, "can you keep a secret?"

Colin turned around fully and peered at me with concern. "I don't want to betray your trust, Link, but if you're going to get hurt I'll have to tell the King and Queen."

I shook my head, and I felt like my eyes must have been twinkling.

"I found an enchanted sword down in the crypts."

Colin looked at me like I'd lost my mind.

"I know it sounds crazy, but you know the Master Sword?"

Now Colin looked intrigued. "The blade of evil's bane?" He said, stepping forward. I nodded.

"I've found a sword that looks like it. And it's inhabited by a powerful spirit."

Colin frowned. "A spirit?"

I nodded again, trying to hide my discomfort from exaggerating the facts so much. Granted, the Master Sword did look similar to the one I'd found, but what I was saying was a bit of a stretch.

"When I touched the sword, it said it would serve me." And this wasn't even strictly true, but Ghirahim had said that he was _my_ sword spirit. "And it was bursting to the brim with magic, I could feel it. I saw it glow."

Colin's eyes were as round as chuchus as I spoke, and I managed to persuade him to fetch some gear from the armoury before I snuck out.

"You're brilliant, Colin." I said as he entered my chambers half an hour later with chain mail, a shield, a leather belt pack with lots of pockets and two glass bottles, one filled with milk and the other with chu jelly.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get you more," Colin said. "Are you sure about this? Even with a powerful sword, it's a huge risk going out there by yourself."

"Thank you." I said to my friend, smiling at him as I pulled on a green tunic, a simple but traditional knight's garb. "I think I need to do this. It feels like fate, you know?"

Colin didn't look like he knew, but he didn't seem like he wasn't going to run off and wake my parents up the moment I left either. He let me slip away, though he seemed reluctant to see me off. Saying goodbye was difficult for me too, since I couldn't be sure when I'd see him again - but after a heartfelt hug and a promise of return, I took the route I'd blindly followed the previous night, down into the crypts.

The staircase was much less daunting this time, as I'd thought to keep the lantern that I'd found down there in the first place. The yellow light was dimmer tonight though, which made the tombs slightly creepier as it got harder to see. I made a mental note to get some oil from somewhere on the way to the Ancient Woods.

I paused at the entrance to Link I's tomb, which was still open from the night before. I hadn't really thought this through at all, and from what Ghirahim had said, he had no reason to be on my side. Could I seriously trust that he would still be powerless after I took his sword out of the crypts?

"Look who it is..." A voice sounded, breaking the silence in the chamber. I swivelled round on my heel to see Ghirahim, right behind me.


	5. Chapter 5

**Double update so we can finish breaking the ice with Ghirahim and because this is a short chapter!**

.

"...Ghirahim." Was all I could say, trying to get over the jumpscare. At least I reacted better than when we first met.

"Sky child," Ghirahim sighed distractedly, seemingly much too engrossed in the stitching of his gloves. He was leaning with his back against the opposite wall from me, and everything about the pose made my eye involuntarily twitch. What was with this guy? "Or, wait," he said, looking up into space. "You'll have never flown, have you? How dull." He sighed again and pushed off the crypt's wall, dusting off his red cloak. I just noticed that the inside of it was decorated with yellow diamonds, as if the earring and tattoo and _holes_ in his suit weren't enough diamonds to handle already.

"To tell you the truth, I didn't expect you to visit me again quite so soon," he drawled, starting to pace around me. I pivoted on my heel as I watched him, letting him speak for the moment, but then he suddenly disappeared.

"Are you perhaps here for social reasons?" His voice was in my ear, I could feel the awkward proximity of his body behind me and I whipped around. He stood tall and smirked down at me. I glared.

"Why are you suddenly acting like a trickster?" I snapped, patience already thinner than parchment.

Ghirahim tapped a finger to his cheek in thought. "My power's returning to me, though I'm not quite sure why." He said, stepping back and conjuring a ball of yellow light in his hand, showing off. "I mean, it could be because you broke my seal, but," he looked up from examining the orb and instead peered at me, his eyes far too mischievous. "Who knows?"

I gave him my most withering look.

"You say you can't go far from your sword, that you're bound to it?"

"Oh yes, it's really quite cumbersome." Ghirahim said, and I couldn't tell if his tone was deliberately patronising or just playful. I didn't like it either way, but still continued.

"I need your help," I said through almost-gritted teeth. As the words left my mouth it almost felt like the first Link was staring at me from his tomb, incredulous that his descendant was about to aid in a demon's freedom. A demon he'd sealed away.

Ghirahim, on the other hand, looked pleasantly surprised.

"If you want me to lead an attack on somewhere, I will happily oblige-"

"I don't want to kill anyone." I said, feeling the urgency of the situation. "I'm going somewhere very dangerous, and I need a powerful sword to get to where I want. Are you in, or would you rather rot down here?"

Ghirahim looked pissed off at the way I addressed him, but he didn't argue against leaving. He looked towards the tomb where his sword was, and then at me, and nodded. I breathed out in secret relief at his consent, not sure what I would have done if he hadn't said yes - but then, why _wouldn't_ he - and went to grab the blade.

The sword was heavy, but as my hand curled round the hilt, I felt like I'd never held a more comfortable sword in my life. The balance of the blade in my hand felt perfect, and I had to take a moment to admire it's form. Whatever magic had happened when I touched it, it did feel like it was designed for me alone.

Unfortunately though, I didn't have a scabbard with me, so I would have to carry the sword in hand until I could find a merchant. If that wasn't impairing enough, Ghirahim decided to creep behind me as I snuck out of the crypts.

"Can you not just go back into your sword? At least until I'm out of here?" I whispered angrily to the sword spirit as we slid into an alcove.

"No. I want to see what's become of my domain while I was gone," he argued back.

He seemed adamant about seeing the palace as we left it. Apparently in sword form he could only sense what was happening in a situation, rather than physically see or hear anything.

"That does sound very boring, if you're locked in an empty crypt for centuries." I said absentmindedly as we waited for a patrolling guard to pass by the hedge we'd jumped into. There were thorns and branches pressing into my neck and face, let alone the rest of my body, and I was starting to regret taking the shorter route through the palace gardens.

"Well, it's not like I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to become a sword spirit." Ghirahim said bitterly. "Goddesses, you Hylians get more inconsiderate the longer you're left to evolve-"

"Shh!" I said frantically, clamping a hand over Ghirahim's mouth. I froze in that position as the guard (that had almost _definitely_ come out of nowhere) scrutinised the area around him for what was making a sound. Suddenly something hot and moist was tickling the palm of my hand, and it was all I could do to not recoil from being licked as the guard shrugged and slowly walked on by.

I ripped my hand away from Ghirahim's face and glared at him.

"Are you TRYING to get us caught?!"

The spirit smiled, falsely sweet. He leaned in closer and I couldn't move away at all in the tight squeeze.

"Don't. Do that to me. Again." He said, before grabbing my wrist. Everything suddenly blurred and whipped around me like a gust of wind, and the next thing I knew I was sat on the ground, outside the castle's walls.

"How- What?" I said, after a long pause, and looked around to see Ghirahim was standing next to me, the edges of his form highlighted in the moonlight like some creepy apparition. He wasn't paying me any attention, too busy looking over at the castle.

I stood up and brushed myself off. He'd been an idiot and teleported us right into the centre of Castle Town, but thankfully no one was around this late at night to see us. I looked up to the castle and noticed Colin's bedroom window was still giving off light, and I hoped he was going to cope while I was gone, and that I wouldn't be getting him into too much trouble.

"We need to go," I said, starting to walk off and then turning to see if Ghirahim was following me. He turned around and looked at me like he'd forgotten I was even there, a pensive expression on his face.

I decided not to ask.

.

"Earlier," I said, as we sat at a campfire. "when we were escaping,"

Ghirahim looked up at me, attention caught, so I continued.

"You said you _agreed_ to become a sword spirit. So you weren't created as one?"

Ghirahim looked at me as if to say, _'what did you think?'_

"Well, when you were explaining what sword spirits were, you said that the Master Sword's was created solely for the purpose of serving the Goddess' hero!" I defended, trying not to sound stupid.

Ghirahim dropped the stick he had been poking the fire with and sat up straight. "Awfully presumptuous of you to assume that all sword spirits are just artificial intelligence with no soul."

If I had been less dignified, _which I'm not_ , my jaw may have dropped open. Slightly.

Ghirahim smiled cruelly. "I'm teasing." He said. I watched as he took off his cloak and lay it on the ground next to the fire. "I would say most sword spirits _are_ actually just created for that purpose, but I wouldn't really know. All I know for certain is that Demise wanted a strong sword, the strongest there was, and he thought fusing a living soul to an already strong, enchanted blade would be the way to accomplish that." He said, lying down on his cloak.

So it wasn't just that he inhabited the sword, but his soul was fused to it. Destined to be forever bound to an inanimate object, forced to do the bidding of the one who wields it...

"...I'm sorry." I said, and I meant it. If what Ghirahim said was true, that didn't sound like a very good life.

I saw Ghirahim look over at me out of the corner of my eye, but I pretended to pull my hat down and huddle up to the fire, focusing on keeping warm. I didn't get to see what his expression was before he turned away.


	6. Chapter 6

"What exactly is your quest's objective then, since it would be wise to fill me in." Ghirahim said, breaking the silence for the third time that morning. I'd ignored everything he'd said so far, not being a friendly morning person or even particularly sure that he was genuinely interested in what I had to say.

"...Have you gone mute?" He said, and teleported in front of me. I jolted to a stop and almost fell over.

"Farore," I cursed under my breath, and Ghirahim frowned.

"Language, please." He said, crossing his arms. "I would really like to know what you need my sword for," he added, and I caved.

"My sister," I said, heart clenching as I remembered the party from the other evening. "She was taken by a forest spirit and I'm going to rescue her."

Ghirahim looked amused. "All on your own?"

"I have you, don't I?" I said, pushing past him to continue walking. I heard Ghirahim follow after me.

"True, you do." He said, and went quiet again for a minute. "Why _do_ you need me, as apposed to an average sword? Where are we going?"

"The Ancient Woods." I said, and looked at a small map from my own quarters. I could make out the woods to the east of the map, though it was to a very small scale. It was just there to keep me heading in a general direction, anyway.

"Your people are afraid of a _forest_?" I heard Ghirahim scoff behind me. "No, I shouldn't be surprised. Look at all the trees around us, how many do you see? I see five." He said, catching up with me easily on longer legs and walking beside me. "You do realise that the reason you Hylians are afraid of a big, bad wood is just because it's unfamiliar to you." It was a statement, not a question, so I didn't bother to reply. "If you stopped destroying nature for firewood, you might even attract some friendly spirits to your kingdom. Back in my day, everyone lived _among_ the nature, worked _with_ it. Now you've all become industrialised..." He trailed off, and a second later I noticed why; a great forest was beginning to loom in the distance.

We walked in silence as we approached the first layer of trees, standing out against the blue sky like a dark, foreboding wall. The trees didn't go out past a certain point, and it almost looked like people had been too afraid to cut past an invisible line, defining the forest's boundaries clearly.

I stopped in front of the woods, looking up at the towering trees. I quickly felt uneasy, like there were thousands of unseen eyes on me. I felt a shiver go up my spine.

"This place is very evil," Ghirahim finally spoke up. I gave him a sidelong glance, but he didn't tear his gaze away from the trees. "I can sense it... Just beyond these trees there's something - _big_. And malicious."

I didn't like the sound of that. "The thing that took my sister was a wood golem," I provided, "it was ten feet tall and destroyed all the windows along a wall of our main hall."

"No," Ghirahim said. This time I looked him over properly, but his expression was unreadable. "Whatever's in the heart of that forest is easily ten times as powerful as a golem."

"How do you not know there's simply ten golems in there?"

"Because golems don't live in the trees..." Ghirahim said quietly, and looked over the forest like he could see something I couldn't.

"What?" I said, suppressing another urge to shiver.

"This energy, it's everywhere. It's in the ground, in the leaves," he said, and I couldn't tell if he looked fascinated or creeped out. "This is demonic energy."

Ghirahim was silent after that. Although he might have been thinking things over in his head, I didn't really know anything about demons, so I started to feel a bit awkward as we stood there silently. After a minute, when I was sure my partner had nothing to add, I stepped forward.

"Hey," Ghirahim said, grabbing my arm. I blinked at up him. "You can't just waltz in there. You'll suffocate."

I frowned, puzzled. "Is there no air?"

My sword spirit closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as he frowned. "It- it's not like you can't actually _breathe_ in there," he said, so I took another step forward. Ghirahim's grip on my arm tightened.

"Let go,"

"No, listen." He said, and came to stand in front of me. "You're a creature of the earth. Your soul is made of light."

"...Thank you?" I said when he didn't continue, and he hissed.

"I mean, you're not built to go into a place like that. You may be able to see that forest in your own world, but once you go in, you'll have left your birth realm. You won't be able to cope with the change, and you'll die."

I frowned. "I know I'm out of my depth here, but I have an idea of what I'll be facing." I pulled out of Ghirahim's grip. "I can't go back now, anyway." I said, and continued walking. Ghirahim didn't say anything more, and I felt the broadsword in my hand shiver, and the sounds of his footsteps behind me disappear. I looked back and he was nowhere to be seen, and looked down to see my sword glowing slightly in my hand.

"Good riddance," I breathed, and took my first steps into the Ancient Woods.

.

Father had been right when he said that the forest tried to trick you into getting lost, as the only landmarks I could find (small stone shrines, particularly gnarled trees or gigantic spider webs) seemed to be repeating themselves as I walked on by. I was a good tracker and had a decent enough memory, but the forest made me feel confused. I gripped my sword tightly as I picked my way through low branches and thorny bushes, positive that everything seemed to get darker the farther I went. I was sure it couldn't be getting late yet, it must have barely been midday when I entered the forest, yet it was getting increasingly difficult to see anything with my dying lantern.

My nerves were becoming too much to handle, too. So far I hadn't encountered any monsters, but I was sure that, occasionally, something would move in the corner of my eye. An empty space would be where I was sure there'd been a tree, or shadows would somehow look like they were breathing.

I was so preoccupied with _them_ that I didn't even see the quicksand until it was too late.

I'd stepped into a pool of something liquid and thick and gritty, fell in up to my waist and stuck fast. I yelped as I felt myself sinking, throwing my sword and lantern onto solid ground as I looked for something to grab onto. I scrambled at the soil in front of me but it just broke off and fell into whatever foul-smelling substance I'd fallen into, and I started to scream as the pool swallowed me up. The last things I thought of as my mind clouded over were my parents, and Zelda, and how I'd let them all down.

.

 **Is Link dead? Will our boys ever k̶n̶o̶w̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶m̶e̶a̶n̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶l̶o̶v̶e̶ get along** **? Tune in Sunday for more novice-level writing!**


	7. Chapter 7

The sky was a beautiful lilac when I woke up. It was gentle on my waking eyes as I opened them with effort, and I almost could have felt content as I woke - until Ghirahim appeared in my vision and I was reminded where I was.

"What in the three forces..." I groaned, putting a hand over my head like it could help reduce the painful throbbing.

"Your language really is appalling for a prince," I heard Ghirahim say in an offended tone, before he appeared in front of me again with a bottle. "Drink."

I obliged, and creamy liquid ran down my throat. It soothed my burning throat and swollen tongue, and I took a deep breath after finishing the bottle.

"Where did you get milk from?" I asked, sitting up slowly.

"It was in your pack. It would have gone sour if you hadn't drank it soon, anyway."

I looked around to see that the forest was easily half a mile away now, and that Ghirahim had set up a campfire.

"Why are we out here?"

Ghirahim rolled his eyes. I was about to retort and snap at him, when he spoke, "I told you that place was dangerous. I found you having a seizure on the forest floor."

Now, that was a surprise.

"That can't be right, I fell into a swamp." I stated, sort of dumbly.

"You most certainly did not," Ghirahim said, eyes narrowing. "You started to panic, and I couldn't sense anything attacking you, directly at least, so I came out of my sword. You were screaming and writhing on the ground like a moldorm had crawled up your trousers."

I felt myself go bright red at that, and decided not to say anything and just look away, since I couldn't think of anything to help the situation at all.

"Are you feeling alright, now?" Ghirahim suddenly said, which threw me a bit. I looked up at him. "If you injured yourself while you were delirious, the wounds could get infected. You should keep them clean."

I blinked. "Why do you care?"

Now it was Ghirahim's turn to look away. "Or ignore my generous advice and just die when your cuts get infected," he said, sitting down and leaning against a boulder.

I wanted to talk back, but his words did bring my attention to my clothes and hair, which were almost matted by dirt at this point. I shuddered, not really sure of how I hadn't noticed.

"Do you know if there's any water nearby?" I asked, and Ghirahim replied by pointing right behind me.

I turned to see a small lake, not twenty feet away. I gaped and walked to the edge of a steep slope - the embankment of the lake, that ran down into clean, calm water.

"You better go now or the sun will be down by the time you're back," Ghirahim said in an almost singsong voice, putting his hands behind his head and staring out at Hyrule Field.

I huffed, irritable from his nagging, but saw his point. I walked back to the fire, turned away towards the lake and started removing my tunic and chain mail.

"Why are you taking your clothes off here?" Ghirahim said behind me, but I took my time and finished taking my boots off before I answered.

"Because," I said slowly, turning around and crouching to lay my clothes next to the fire. "I want my clothes to be warm when I get out."

Ghirahim didn't say anything else, just watched me take my trousers off (which I found more than a bit uncomfortable), and then I swiftly retreated to the water in my underwear.

The water was cold, but it woke me up properly from my dehydrated sleep, and was as clear as crystal. I decided to stretch my muscles and have a swim, and practically moaned as I felt the dirt and sweat from the last day wash off my face. It was when I was lying on the surface, floating like a starfish, when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I splashed noisily until I'd repositioned and was treading water, and I watched the lakebed for more movement.

There it was. A fish.

"What's got you all flustered?" Ghirahim said hotly as I sprinted back up to the camp.

"Need the sword," I said, only stopping for a moment to grab the dark sword and run back to the lake.

"Well whatever's the matter?" Ghirahim shouted after me, but I was too busy running. I ran to the edge of the lake that I'd seen the fish hiding in, and I crouched.

Ghirahim materialised next to me.

"What's gotten into-"

"Sshh!" I said, clipping his words short. Ghirahim complied and eventually crouched with me, leaning close. I could feel his warmth contrast strongly with my quickly cooling skin, but I stayed put. Clothes could happen later.

"Are you... Fishing?" Ghirahim said as he looked at me, tense and sword pointed at the water.

"Yeah." I said softly, trying not to scare the fish.

"Well for Gods' sake, why with my sword? That's an ancient, goddess-slaying blade!"

"Yeah." I said again, not really listening. Ghirahim made a sort of frustrated growling noise and stood up. I heard the chime of his magic above me, and then he handed me a spear.

"Where did you...?" I said, taking the spear and handing him the sword in return, but Ghirahim raised his hands in front of his chest.

"I can't hold my own sword. You'll just have to take care of it until you come back." He said, so I put the broadsword on the ground behind me and turned back to the water, and I heard Ghirahim climb back up the embankment.

Spear fishing was much harder than I had expected, and it took the sun going down completely and another half hour after that until I had to give up, only two small fish as my prize.

"Is that genuinely all you caught?" Ghirahim said in a disbelieving tone as I trudged back to the fire. I nodded, even more cast down when he pointed it out. Ghirahim sat up and looked at me, hand covering his mouth.

"What's that look for? We're not going to starve at least," I said, but then Ghirahim burst into laughter. I felt my face turn red again.

"You- you looked so focused! I thought you knew what you were doing, oh my goddess-"

"I don't see you risking hypothermia to gather food," I grumbled.

Ghirahim tried to calm down, wiped the tears from his eyes (quite dramatically), and stood up. He took his cloak off and wrapped it around my shoulders, and I involuntarily sighed as warmth enveloped me.

"Thank you," I said, but before he could reply I noticed that the cloak I was wearing was black, not red. Then I realised Ghirahim had changed, too. "Where did you get those clothes?" I asked.

Ghirahim was now dressed in a dark red, sleeveless shirt, dark pants and darker boots. As confused as I was, I was sort of impressed by him finally wearing travel-practical clothes, even if they were almost as tight as his old things.

"I used my magic to fashion them out of my previous clothes," he said, looking down at me with a hard-to-read expression. I looked back up at him, but after a moment I started to feel uncomfortable and had to look away, which made my face flare up again awkwardly.

Ghirahim took a step back and turned towards the fire before he spoke again. "Do you know how to cook as well, or should I take over from here?"

.

 **I'm going away for the week so I'm gonna apologise with a triple chapter update tonight! Next update will be sometime next weekend (friday/saturday), please don't forget about me!**

 **Also, news outside of this fic:**  
 ***I'm starting a Skyward Sword University!AU story, which I will try to post the first chapter of tonight! (It's GhiraLink. What a surprise.)**  
 ***I've been to-ing and fro-ing with this Ghirahim origin story thing for a while that tells his life prior to the events of Skyward Sword. (I'm actually basing the Ghirahim in this fic on my concepts from that story, so if you're interested I'll be posting it soon - look out for it!)**

 **Again, thanks for reading! You guys are great. :3**


	8. Chapter 8

I let Ghirahim do the cooking since he seemed to know what he was doing, whereas I hadn't cooked a day in my life. I watched him work in silence, and sort of liked how he looked genuinely relaxed for once. It was like he'd completely forgotten to keep his guard up, all the pretence and posing gone.

"So," he said as we eventually sat down to eat. By this point, he'd gone back to his normal, performing tone, and for some reason it bothered me, like it made me feel distanced. "What made you so excited to spearfish if you have skills like _that_?" He smirked at me over his skewer, eyes glowing amber in the fire's light. I tried to glare back.

"It was just something I'd heard of," I said, picking the scales off my fish. "How ancient Hylians used to fish, or something you'd read in a story. I just wanted to try it."

"Well, I suppose you were successful." Ghirahim said in an amused tone, though it didn't quite sound mocking. He raised his fish as recognition to my success, and I realised he was waiting for me to do the same, so I raised my skewer and tapped mine to his.

"Do you not know how to fish at all, then?" Ghirahim asked as we continued eating. I didn't get why he was starting to be so chatty, but I obliged.

"It's not really something you learn in the palace. It requires too much patience. I think nobles are either thrill seekers or are left to get bored. Hunting though," I said, tearing into my fish, "hunting is something I'm good at."

Ghirahim seemed entertained by my talk, which made me feel a bit self conscious. "Do you think you'll be able to utilise those skills as a king?" He said.

I didn't like that question. Would I even be accepted as heir when I came back home? _If_ I came back? No doubt Father was angry with me for disobeying him, and would probably be sending out troops to look for me as well, now. I looked back at Ghirahim in his traveler's clothes, and then down at my traditional Hylian tunic - and my cap, which was still by the fire. Why couldn't I have chosen less conspicuous clothes?

"Why did you change?" I asked, and when Ghirahim looked at me blankly I gestured to his whole outfit. "The redesign."

Ghirahim seemed to process my question for a second, before sighing and leaning back, hands planting down by his sides. "Your garb was sort of distracting, really." He sighed, looking away from me and up at the night sky. "Your predecessor wore clothes almost just like that. I guess I had to remind myself that things are different now,"

He didn't say anything more than that, and I was grateful for the loud crackle of the fire to fill the silence while I thought.

"Did you... hate my ancestor?" I asked tentatively, and a smile immediately grew on the sword spirit's face.

"Definitely not. Or, maybe not until the end." He said, just as the wind picked up and smoke started to waft into his face. He didn't cough but his face screwed up hilariously, and I tried not to laugh as he stood up to move. I stopped wanting to laugh when he came right up to me. "You're out of it's path," he explained nonchalantly, sitting down cross-leggedly next to me.

"But you should know it was nothing personal, us being enemies. Or at least it wasn't personal when I attacked him." He said, poking the fire with his skewer. "Looking back on it now, I'm not sure why I was so set on resurrecting my old master, I mean, I was free." He paused, his expression becoming more serious. "He would have still resurrected without my help, though. I think I simply wanted to be on what I thought was the winning side."

His words made me want to clap a hand to his shoulder for comfort, something I'd seen knights do and what my father did when I was sad, but then I remembered it never helped much, and thought against it.

"Your first King, unfortunately, couldn't forgive me for that. Putting his Queen in danger." Ghirahim said, pulling me from my thoughts. "He hunted me down until he could subdue me in that box. I think he thought I was still a danger."

"I'm sorry," I said automatically, not even sure if I was. I didn't understand why he was telling me this, or why he didn't want revenge.

"Oh, don't blame yourself for my imprisonment," he said in a playful tone, cocking his head to smirk sidelong at me. "I don't think he was wrong in wanting a threat gone. I always understood that, even if it still angered me when he got in my way... I'm becoming grateful that he didn't go through with killing me, though." He leant back again, arms spreading out behind us as support, and the proximity of his arm to my back made me feel weird. Not tense exactly, but-

"He was convinced I was a demon as well, which probably didn't help his opinion of me," Ghirahim added, which made me forget his arm.

"You're not?" I blurted. Ghirahim's expression didn't change, not until he turned to face me fully. He looked pissed off.

"I understand that the way I worded things to _him_ would make him think that, but you too?" He said, and my mouth went dry. "Do I _look_ like a demon?"

"I..." I said, blinking. "I wouldn't know."

"Well, I guess I don't have to feel quite as offended," he said sarcastically, moving away from me and lying down, his back to me.

"I just thought, you serving under the _Demon King_ ," I argued, starting to feel irritated.

"Therefore I'm just an intrinsically evil creature, with no morals or emotions." He said bluntly, challenging me, and I sighed. I didn't know how to react.

I turned away from him, annoyed, and lay down. "I don't think you're not your own person," I said, disgruntled, and he didn't reply. At least I got the last word.


	9. Chapter 9

I woke up to the sound of rustling, and opened my eyes to see it was Ghirahim, waking up and stretching in the grass.

"Hey," I greeted, but Ghirahim just stood up and brushed himself off, seemingly ignoring me. I remembered what I'd said yesterday, and felt a bit embarrassed at my assumption, now.

"I'm sorry about last night." I said, my voice a bit hoarse from sleep.

"I bet you say that to all the girls," Ghirahim said flatly, and my face went red again, which made everything worse.

"What are you doing?" I snapped, watching him take a few steps away and look out at Hyrule field.

"Forget simply chopping _trees_ down, your people have repressed nature so much, and for so long, that all the spirits in your kingdom have been pushed back into those woods." Ghirahim said coldly, donning his cloak. "And they've become corrupted by whatever demon has settled in there, so now the whole area is teeming with dark spirits. You'll never get your princess back unless you temper your own spirit."

I gaped, half dumbfounded and half asleep. Temper my spirit?

"As in, cleanse my soul?"

Whatever I said must have been funny, because I caught Ghirahim laugh to himself and shake his head.

"I think a more appropriate term would be 'adapt'," he said. He turned round and looked down at me. I deliberately stared blankly back at him until he explained.

"To elaborate, when I was preparing to take command of the demon hoards in order to ravish this land, I had to overcome several trials to temper my spirit. By doing so I would adjust to being surrounded by dark energy and it wouldn't harm me. In essence, I became immune to dark magic." He said. I mulled this over briefly.

"Would the process change me? Would it make my soul dark?" I finally asked. Ghirahim flipped his hair out of his face and put his hands on his hips.

"Only if you're weak enough to give into it." He said it dismissively, like it wasn't worth worrying about. That bothered me, but...

"Are there any other options for entering those woods?"

"Get possessed?" Ghirahim said in an indifferent tone, shrugging. I frowned. This wasn't his typical teasing, why was he acting like this? Was he _sulking_ with me?

"...Fine." I eventually said, and Ghirahim watched me as I stood up. I looked him in the eye and tried to feel as bold as I sounded, "Where do we need to go?"

.

"You're joking," I said, looking up at the volcano. The mountain puffed in reply, a cloud of silver ash rising out the top. I turned to Ghirahim, who was standing beside me. "You want me to dive into an active volcano?"

Ghirahim folded his arms. "I'm only saying that's how I did it. If you have a better idea then be my guest."

I sighed, and looked back up at the volcano. Ghirahim said he'd done this, and he was still alive... And I was doing this for an important reason: this would get me to Zelda.

"Are you able to get us to the top, or is it only manageable on foot?" I asked, sizing the volcano up. Ghirahim laughed.

"My warp magic can penetrate practically _any_ barrier, Your Highness." He said proudly, and with a click of his fingers the pressure changed and we were somewhere much higher.

I looked down. And suddenly felt vertigo.

We were stood on the edge of a small crater, probably from a lesser volcano, but the drop was so far down that I couldn't see the bottom. I felt my balance go.

"Hey! Steady there," Ghirahim said, grabbing my waist and pulling me into him before I could fall. I felt a sudden rush of adrenaline from the threat of the fall, but that suddenly made me feel hypersensitive. Ghirahim's hands sort of tickled my hips from where they gripped my waist, and I couldn't help but notice how my back was pressed flush against him, _all of him_ , which made my face flare up. Or maybe that was from the heat of the volcano.

Ghirahim kept his hand on my waist as he moved us away from the edge, which he didn't need to do, but I still almost felt bothered when he let go.

"You might want this," he said, and summoned a cloth from nowhere. I took it off him, the fabric was heavy and firm and pure white.

"What is it?"

"It's called a sailcloth; it's to break your fall. I've seen them in use, they're quite effective."

"I'm just going to jump into a volcano I can't see the bottom of?" I said, trying not to sound panicked as I looked back down into the abyss.

"I'm afraid so," Ghirahim said, and poked me in the back. "Hurry up."

I glared at him, but moved to stand with my feet on the edge of the rocky rim of the volcano. I held my sailcloth in my hands tightly and jumped.

I should have asked how to use it.

The cloth caved in above my head and I plummeted fast, getting faster and faster the farther I went. I screamed as all I saw were the black walls around me, and flailed instinctively to try and break my fall. I kept screaming, and screaming, and I wasn't sure how I could keep going as air whizzed past my face too quickly for me to breathe it in.

And then I saw the bottom, flat and dark, and I was going to die. I cursed Ghirahim, I cursed myself for listening to him in the first place.

I hit the bottom, and the impact hurt, but I fell through. I was engulfed by something fluid and warm and as I swam to the surface, I realised I'd jumped into a hot spring.

My sword glowed and Ghirahim materialised in front of me.

"You dirty snake!" I yelled, and swam up to him. Ghirahim looked shocked that I'd shouted, but then only amused.

"I couldn't be sure if the water hadn't dried up," he said, smirking, though he still started to back away. "I didn't want to tell you incase it wasn't still here and the shock threw you."

I kept swimming towards him until I was right up in his face, and then I wasn't sure what to do, so I just glared at him.

"You're awful, you're cruel and- and this is _not_ funny!" I snarled as Ghirahim began to snicker.

"You look so wide-eyed, it really is adorable." He said, and broke into full-on laughter.

I knew it wouldn't accomplish anything, but I was so frustrated that I started pushing at his chest, shoving him away. "You snide, snarky, big-headed..." And I had to stop pushing him, still catching my breath from the fall. I looked up and he was smiling at me in what could almost be called an affectionate way, like I was just a little kid who'd made a funny mistake.

Then his gaze flickered to my mouth for a split second, and I realised that my hands were resting on his chest, and the two of us were pressed against each other. My face flushed (though later I would insist that was simply because we were in a hot spring so of course I was _hot_ , it had nothing to do with present company), and I pushed away, swimming to the edge of the spring.

.

 **So that's it until this weekend! (I'm bad at writing unconscious attraction. I'm sorry. If you stick around, something exciting might finally happen in the next chapter** **( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) )**


	10. Chapter 10

"Was that it, then?" I asked as I tipped my boot upside-down, getting rid of the intruding spring water. "The first trial? Get the shit scared out of me?"

"Unfortunately, no." Ghirahim said it like it wasn't unfortunate at all. "There's a chamber up ahead if you follow this passage. I'm not really supposed to be there as well, so I'll be going now." He said, and vanished into my sword. I huffed irritably, put my boots back on and proceeded down the smoothly carved tunnel Ghirahim had directed me into.

The tunnel forked off into lots of pool chambers, and I had to breathe deep to fight against the humidity weighing down my lungs. The passage ended in a round, stone door, which rolled easily to the side when I pushed it, and I walked into a circular chamber.

The walls and floor were painted with old, unreadable runes and swirling patterns. Honestly, it was a little disorienting to look at. Nothing else was in the room though, so I circled the entire chamber, looking for secret panels or buttons, anything. When I finished the circuit and was back at the door, nothing had happened.

"You've just led me to a room!" I said, angry at my sword spirit. The sword in my hand didn't respond, so I directed my most negative energy through my arm and into the blade, hoping Ghirahim could sense it, and turned to leave through the door again.

Something grabbed my ankle.

I fell to the ground, only to hit soil and grass instead of stone. I was dragged back and saw trees all around me, the sky was dark and barely visible through the canopy.

"What the hell-!" I yelled, turning onto my back to grab at the thing gripping my leg. It was a gigantic vine, maybe even a tree root, dark and green and covered in soil and scratching at my leg. It pulled me further into the forest until I managed to lean forward enough to chop it off with my sword, and then I jumped up.

Everything in the forest was suddenly quiet and still, but I stood to attention, looking for other enemies. It wasn't long before more roots slithered into my vision from the forest floor, their source unseen. I hacked away at them until they were all gone, and then followed the direction they came from.

They led me to a clearing, with only a large bush in the centre. I looked around for more monsters, not sure what to expect, when suddenly a stem protruded from the bush. The stem grew about six feet and then stopped. The end budded and bloomed into a large, yellow flower, which opened to flaunt two rows of razor-sharp teeth. I gulped.

The flower's movements were predictable at least, it's movements were obvious give away's before it attacked, and I discovered that cutting at the flower's head seemed to weaken it. It started to slow down quickly and I could sense how close my victory was, when something suddenly grabbed at my tunic from behind.

I whipped round to see the trees behind me were all reaching for me, branchy arms with thorny fingers looking eerily skeletal in the dim forest's light. I swiped my sword at the branches closest to me, when I felt the flower sink it's teeth into my shoulder from behind.

I cried out and tried to step away but my knees buckled beneath me from shock. The flower bit me again, on the arm this time, and it wasn't long before the loss of blood got to my head.

Something wrapped around my chest and dragged me, probably planning to eat me. I raised my sword and tried to swipe at it, but whatever it was blocked my attack.

"...ink, Link!" Suddenly everything swam back into focus, and I knew that was Ghirahim's voice. I looked down to see it was his arms around my chest.

"Ghirahim?" I said dumbly, a little disoriented.

"You're going to fail this trial if you don't fight back right _now_ ," he said in my ear, pushing me to my feet. "You just need to beat that forest spirit. Just avoid the trees. Go on," he said, and I heard the now-familiar chime of his magic and he was back in my sword. I blinked and shook my head. Hot blood was running down my arm and side, the wounds stung and ached but I thought of Zelda, and how I needed to beat this. For her.

With a final slash, fuelled by all my weight and strength, I cut right through the monster's head. The stem wilted immediately and the flower disintegrated into yellow petals, that scattered over the forest floor.

I let myself wilt too, dropping to my knees before everything went black.

I felt hands on my chest as I came to, and hot water that stung my skin.

I hissed, and the hand retracted. I opened my eyes and Ghirahim was sitting in front of me. _Very close, in fact_ , I noted, and my face flushed _again_.

I looked down at myself to see skin, my skin, completely exposed and wet.

"Why am I shirtless?" I slurred, and Ghirahim pointed to the wounds on my shoulder and arm, which seemed to be closing up rapidly. I watched in amazement as he poured more hot spring water on them with his hands, and they healed completely.

Then I noticed we were sat in one of the spring pools.

"What?" I said, in regards to everything.

"The spring water in these parts has healing properties while it's hot, and you were losing blood fast." He said seriously, and looked at something to the side. I followed his gaze to see my tunic and chainmail thrown off in a hurry next to the pool's edge, spattered with red.

"Thank you," I managed, head sort of clearing, but not completely in the humid air. "How long was I out?"

"Only a minute or two," Ghirahim said. I noticed his hand was still on my arm, which suddenly sent shivers across my skin and down my spine. He was so close...

I looked down at his hand, and my own hand moved up to touch his. As I looked back up at him he was staring at me, and I couldn't tell if he looked confused or concerned or what, but that didn't stop me from leaning in and pressing my lips to his.

I moved away a moment later, assessing the situation. Ghirahim looked sort of shocked, but there was a fire beginning to light behind his eyes that made me almost shudder. His hand slid up my chest to hold my chin.

"Don't take this personally," he said moving in all-too suddenly, and kissed me.

 **.**

 **( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey all!**

 **So, sorry I disappeared. I've been putting off posting this xD**

 **In all honesty, I hate the following scene. I've been trying to fix it but I'm bad with pacing and I'd already written several more chapters by the time I'd published Chapter 10, it's just too much work right now. I'll probably rewrite this whole fic eventually, but for now you're stuck with this: an amateur's attempt. I know that I haven't built up to this enough, I know there isn't much justification for this scene taking place, but the whole idea spawned from smut and I guess I'm just not creative or skilled enough yet to know how to remove it from the equation.**

 **If anybody out there has critique or advice, I'd appreciate it.**

 **\- A newbie with writing**

 **.**

I already wasn't quite sure how we'd gotten here - why I'd kissed Ghirahim, or how he'd gotten sort of on top of me - since I was too lost in what Ghirahim's mouth and hands were doing, but I didn't really care anyway.

I couldn't control myself; as soon as it had started I could feel this burst of energy, like my body was a torch that had just caught fire, and it was terrifying yet so satisfying that I let myself get lost in the sensations. I'd yearned for this type of contact for years, had been equally daunted and curious about it, and my sense of delirium and shock must have been the final straw to make me drop my inhibitions for a brief moment. I couldn't deny the small, tempting whispers in my head any longer, the ones that noticed the lingering looks and the foreign body language, and I simply let myself arch into the comforting feeling of touching another body.

Ghirahim's tongue dived into my mouth and I groaned at the invasion, not quite sure what to do as I pushed my own tongue against his, sparring for dominance. I wasn't that experienced at all in the world of sex, but I knew enough to understand what was happening as his hand trailed down my chest and gripped my hip, so I pushed my pelvis into his. He made a soft noise like a growl and responded by grabbing both sides of my hips and pulling us as close together as possible. I moaned and threw my head back, overwhelmed by how good it felt to push against him. He was beginning to feel hard under his trousers, which were wet through now as we wrestled with each other in the pool. I didn't complain. It made the fabric of my pants less harsh against myself.

Ghirahim suddenly slid a hand down between us and pawed at me through my pants, and I gasped as he moved to lick at and bite my neck. This all felt so much better than I ever could have imagined...

And then he was pulling our trousers down, and I looked down at both of us, warped weirdly by the moving water between us. I looked up, sweat beading on my forehead, to see Ghirahim was watching me intently. I challenged him with my eyes, and without looking away he slowly gripped me _there_. He kept his eyes locked on mine as he started to pump his hand, but like the novice I was I got too lost in the sensations and my eyes sealed shut.

He kept going, though, until he stopped for a second and then suddenly both of us were in his hand, and I began to lose my last hold on any control, panting and writhing against him. Ghirahim had rested his forehead on my shoulder, breathing heavily onto my chest as his movements got faster and faster. It wasn't long before I was crying out in ecstasy at my release, Ghirahim groaning and tensing not long after. We stayed in that position for a while, until I couldn't hear my pulse pounding in my ears anymore.

Ghirahim eventually moved off of me, sort of sluggishly, and sat up on the edge of the spring pool. As I pulled my trousers up, he took his own shirt off and wrung it dry, having gotten it completely soaked during the incident.

I suddenly felt, not ashamed exactly, but a bit unsure of what just happened. Ghirahim had said: 'don't take this personally', but what did that mean?

I looked over at him, my eyes roaming over his chiselled stomach and flexing arms as he wrung out his shirt. Had I always been aware of the muscles on his sides, how soft his eyelashes looked in profile, how _attractive_ he was? When did that happen? Was that encounter already making me see him differently?

"You dropped the sword when you fainted," Ghirahim said, still not looking at me. "I couldn't pick it up so it's still in that ritual chamber. It shouldn't react to you entering it a second time."

I stared at him. Was that really all he had to say? Was he pretending that this didn't just happen?

Ghirahim looked at me over his shoulder and frowned. "What?"

 _Right, so it's like that_ , I thought, and walked out of the room. I went back to the trial room, or 'ritual chamber' as Ghirahim had called it, and found my sword lying in the centre of the room. I crept in warily, not completely trusting that I was safe, until I managed to reach my sword.

I didn't pick it up immediately, and just took a moment to breathe in through my nose and exhale through my mouth, run my hand through my soaked hair, squeeze my eyes shut. I could still feel him on me, on my mouth and against my chest and... _around_ me. I realised I'd started to feel hot all over as I was thinking about it, so instead opted to finally pick up my sword.

I examined the blade, the black steel flashing in the dim light as I turned it over. It was so dark, except for the hilt, which was completely white.

 _Like Ghirahim's hair,_ I thought, and then sort of felt disgusted with myself until I realised that, no, comparing Ghirahim to his sword was totally normal. It _was_ his sword, after all.

I ran my palm up the back of the sword's blade, admiring its smoothness and the energy I felt when touching it. If only the swords in the armoury back home held such otherworldly beauty...

"You're not trapped in here, are you?" Ghirahim joked, and I turned round to see him leaning in the doorway. I wasn't sure how to reply.

"You called this a ritual chamber?" I managed. Ghirahim blinked.

"Demons and other dark magic wielders created many ritual chambers that were scattered around what is now your kingdom," he explained, moving off the doorway. "Those chambers were apparently utilised for hexing rituals, which is why they're covered in runes. You spend enough time in these places and you become essentially immune to dark magic."

I looked around at the inanimate, dark walls, covered in runes. "And why did the things in this room attack me?" I asked.

"Nobody's around to control these chambers anymore." Ghirahim sighed, "They just adapt to whoever's in there and try to break them."

"That's sick."

"It's just magic." Ghirahim said, sounding resigned. "It's not doing it because it wants to, it's just the nature it was created with."

And that was a fair point. Still, I didn't like this chamber, not at all. But at least I'd passed the first trial.


	12. Chapter 12

**Double update because the last one was short and uhm...**

 **.**

We'd walked together in silence before. It was most of what we'd done together in the last two days. We'd sat and drank and eaten together in silence, and it was never (very) awkward.

So it was becoming increasingly frustrating as we walked back down from the volcano's summit, because I felt _embarrassed_ for not having anything to say. Like I _had_ to say something.

I looked over at my sword spirit, who seemed quite content to look at the world that surrounded us. I realised that he must have not even seen the sky for probably hundreds of years before I found his sword in the crypts, which made me feel a wave of sympathy for him.

Ghirahim either didn't notice me staring or was making a pointed effort not to look at me, either way his weird attitude didn't bother me for the moment as I got lost in my own thoughts.

"The closest trial chamber from here is probably south-west," Ghirahim stated as the volcano became distant enough to just be background rather than part of the immediate environment. I quickly mulled over what had been going around in my mind, and was grateful that Ghirahim had been the one to break the silence.

"Ghirahim?" I asked, trying not to sound tentative or unsure. This could be a tactless question if there wasn't a solution to the problem, but I at least wanted to see if he knew anything.

Ghirahim finally looked at me. "What?"

"I was just wondering," I said, not sure how to word it, when my stomach growled very loudly. Ghirahim blinked at me, then looked amused.

"Thinking of food?"

I swallowed, wanting to say _no, it's important_ , but then my stomach growled again and I gave up for the moment.

"Yeah." I grimaced slightly. I reached into my pack as an excuse to look away and as something for my hands to do, and found my map. "I know there's a town here, it's got a small market and a tavern that could put us up for the night," I said, and pointed to a little cluster on my map. Ghirahim leaned in to look as we continued walking, his face right next to mine. The skin of my cheek tingled from the proximity and I resisted the urge to do something flirtatious. Ghirahim clearly wasn't interested in anything more than that brief moment of escape in the spring, which was fine.

 _So why is he looking at you...?_ A niggling voice in my head piped up, which I reflexively turned my head at. Ghirahim's eyes quickly flicked in the opposite direction from me, my chest and stomach fluttered nervously, and I wasn't sure how to feel.

.

Crenel village was situated only about three miles east of Dragon Mountain, where we'd just been, and was still lively with hustle and bustle from the market by the time we arrived in the late afternoon.

I expected all eyes to be on me as we entered the main square, as they usually were, but nobody seemed to pay me any notice. It took me until another man in a green tunic walked past us and nodded to me, for me to realise nobody here knew I was a prince.

"Nervous in new places, Your Highness?" Ghirahim teased with a smirk. I shook my head.

"Stop calling me that," I said, noticing the title being used again. Perfect timing with my thoughts, too. I wondered if Ghirahim could actually sense more about him than just the current situation. "I've been here before. It's just so different, not moving about everywhere like I'm on display."

Ghirahim gave me a puzzled look. I wasn't sure what he had to be confused about. "You're not heartless, I'm not a particular fan of attention." I summarised, feeling irritable. Ghirahim looked away and around at the market in silence.

"I suppose neither of us are as one-dimensional as we might have thought," he said quietly.

I was grateful to my past self for packing enough rupees to buy lots of lantern oil, on top of a hot meal at the local tavern. The lady at the bar was nice, with smile lines around her eyes and a warm folksy accent. She commented on how blue my eyes were and winked at me a lot, which I thought was sweet and funny. Ghirahim wasn't a fan, though.

"Her top is so low-cut that she might as well not be wearing anything," he ranted on the way up to our room, after I'd asked him what his problem was.

"And how is that relevant?" I laughed, turning the key in the door. Ghirahim scoffed.

"Just because you're too boorish to care if a woman honours her decency or not," he said brusquely. I looked back at him with a smirk and raised an eyebrow.

"Says the guy who was looking at her 'decency',"

Ghirahim almost whitened at my comment, but then glared and snapped back.

"I'll 'decency' _you_ in a moment," he growled as he pushed past me into the room, and I was grateful that he didn't see my reaction to the unintentional innuendo. I was so caught up with composing myself seconds after that, that I didn't notice Ghirahim stop in the middle of the room. I followed him in moments later.

"Oh." Was all I could say.

 _I think I understand, now, why she kept winking at me_ , I thought to myself as I looked at the double bed. It was the only bed in the room.

Ghirahim had gone back to his tone of aloofness now that I was in the room as well, and I watched as he sat down on the bed and started taking his boots off. I swallowed.

"I'm just going to bathe," I announced, sort of stiffly.

"Have fun," Ghirahim said behind me as I walked into the bathroom.

I didn't bother using the heater and just splashed cold water onto my face, gasping as the foreign temperature sank into my skin and made me shiver. At least it was enough for me to clear my head. Sharing a bed wasn't a big deal, _really_.

 _Why are you thinking into this so much?_ another voice in my head complained, clearly bothered by my active mind and thumping heart this late into the evening. I sighed, rubbing a hand up my face and giving in.

Ghirahim had left the lamp on, so I got to see he was facing away in the bed before blew it out and climbed in, which reassured me a lot. I didn't know why I'd gotten so worked up over nothing.

But when I lay down, I noticed it was more snug than it looked, and I felt tense again. Ghirahim didn't say anything as my foot accidentally brushed his ankle, and my eyes were so open in the dark that they almost bulged. I didn't know why I kept them open, but I was clutching at straws for something to sense that wasn't the other person behind me. Anything that wasn't the warmth on the back of my legs...

Ghirahim shifted in the bed, and the back of his leg tickled mine. I didn't move away, worried it would make things more awkward. But then Ghirahim's leg pushed closer, and I wasn't sure what that meant so I nudged it back playfully, to let him know he was too close.

But then Ghirahim nudged back, so I nudged him again, and this happened a few more times before he hooked his foot around mine so that our legs were intertwined. I tried to ignore the heat growing between my legs as we stayed like that, and I wasn't sure how to proceed. I wasn't sure what he wanted.

Ghirahim started to move his leg so it was rubbing against mine, and the heat became harder to ignore. It seemed I couldn't help myself from rolling my foot around to stroke his, and he responded by hooking his leg around mine further and using it to pull me closer.

I swallowed as this continued, my chest tightening, and I noticed I was having to concentrate more and more on my breathing, or at least I was becoming more aware of it. My breathing had become deeper and faster, and I almost gasped as I felt something brush against my lower back.

Ghirahim turned around and the something - his hand - snaked around my waist and up my chest. I kept my breathing steady as his fingers roamed over my chest, but it hitched as he settled on my nipple.

He shifted closer up behind me and moved his hand to my abdomen in one swift movement and I involuntarily gasped. I felt Ghirahim's breath, hot in my ear, and I decided to turn around to face him.

I shifted and my eyes searched for his in the dark, finding them quickly enough. We both just seemed to regard each other for a long moment, when suddenly Ghirahim took my face in both his hands and kissed me aggressively, tongues sliding and lips being bitten and hips coming forward to meet, telling me how aroused we both were getting. I wondered in that moment between the heat and the sensations if we were about to have sex, and wasn't sure if I was ready.

Were things like this supposed to be as rushed as we were rushing things? As soon as the thought entered my head I couldn't send it away, and while my body was on autopilot, gasping and clawing at my sword spirit's arms and back and thighs, my mind was thinking about what he'd said earlier that day: "Don't take this personally".

Did that mean that this was only a physical thing? I supposed that both of us had gone a lifetime without sex (either literally or figuratively), and maybe we were just seeking refuge in each other's bodies. Except I think I might have wanted more - some recognition that this had something to do with _me_ , because I didn't think I'd be doing this if it wasn't with him.

And then I thought of Ghirahim's imprisonment, and how lonely that must have been, and how, maybe, his reason for doing this with me was just his way of living again? I personally felt like these interactions were quickly becoming the only real ones in a nightmarish haze of panic, travel and danger for me at the moment, so it could be the same for Ghirahim, but... Would that be the rest of his life?

I stopped kissing Ghirahim, hard as it was, and waited the agonising couple of seconds until he caught on and stopped too. He peered at me through the dark with huge, heavy-lidded eyes and I immediately wanted to forget this and continue, but I'd been trying to ask him this all day. I knew I'd forget and leave it for a long time if I didn't try now.

"Ghirahim...?"

"Hello?" He said tentatively, his voice husky. I bit my lip to try and resist changing the subject, like by kissing him again.

"Do you know if there's a way? To free you, I mean?"

I saw Ghirahim's pupils shrink, even in the darkness of the room. "Are you referring to breaking the bond with my sword?" He said, his voice sounding harder and clearer with each syllable. I didn't like where this was going.

"I've just been thinking that, if you weren't created _with_ the sword then there must be a way.. to..." I trailed off, my argument dying on my tongue. Ghirahim's eyes trembled and looked cold and distant, like he was seething, and I couldn't understand why. My heart sank at the sight.

"Do you pity me?" He said, voice excessively calm. I blanched.

"NO, no, just-"

"Don't lie." He snapped. "If I'd wanted the charity of some honour-bound prince then I would have begged for it earlier, like anyone with no shame." His eyes were narrowed now, his words bitter. I had no idea how to fix this. I stared back at him in the dark, barely able to see more than the whites of his eyes, and then he turned away, and I was left on my own with the silence.


	13. Chapter 13

**Quick notice: Guest, thank you so so much. As any writer sharing their work should, I'm gonna simply have to suck it up when not everyone likes elements (or all) of my writing, and I think I've managed to get into that state of mind now. This story was my first attempt at (softcore) smut with plot and I'm going to keep it that way, but I have to say that you making the effort to write that review reassured me and meant a whole lot. Thank you to everyone else who's left reviews as well, so far they've all helped me in different ways and I really appreciate all of them!**

 **.**

The walk to the second trial the next day was excruciatingly tedious, to say the least. Ghirahim refused to talk to me more than the bare minimum needed to send us in the right direction, and I couldn't understand the pensive expression on his face. He didn't look annoyed or even indifferent, he looked frantic and pained, while at the same time focused and confident. The way his eyebrows drew together in a half frown instantly reminded me of Zelda when we were kids, fighting against her moral code to keep a secret from our parents, like when we discovered the tomb. She'd always teased me for being a bad liar but she had always pulled the same face as me as we stood before our parents, and it seemed that only we could read each other anyway, since we were never caught by them.

Those memories surfacing on top of everything else in the last few days _really_ didn't help.

Either way I was in a foul mood by sundown because of him, since he'd also insisted on stopping a lot throughout the day.

"We should retire for the evening if you want all of your strength for this trial," Ghirahim said in response to my incredulous glare as he set up camp.

"We've been 'retiring' _all day_. Why are you making us go so slow?" I spat, and Ghirahim's expression became unreadable.

"We'll get there tomorrow, but it's almost dark now. And you're not in the optimal condition to confront this trial. They're dangerous, if you'll recall."

My eye twitched, and I stopped fighting down the anger simmering inside me. "Why are you doing this?" I said, stepping forward. Ghirahim didn't look at me. "I know you don't really have - _any_ \- obligations to help me, or talk to me or even like me. But you seemed fine with this whole situation before last night."

Ghirahim waved his hand over the fire he'd been building and it bloomed into soft flames. They were too calm for the atmosphere here, too reflective of Ghirahim's expression as he watched them come to life. I wanted to put them out.

I stepped up right next to him, towering over his sitting form with gritted teeth. "You've been deliberately holding us back today. Listen, I'm sorry for _offending_ you, but my sister is trapped in those woods. I think a life is more important than your pride."

Ghirahim still didn't say anything, so I kicked the fire. Embers and ash flew everywhere like a cloud of glowing rubies in the dimming light, hot and dangerous and suffocating. I felt less frustrated looking at the fire, now. Ghirahim stood up calmly without giving away anything, but frowned down at me when he'd surpassed my height.

"Stop being an idiot. If you spread yourself thin and enter a trial after a day of travelling, you're going to kill yourself." He said, eyes narrowed.

I practically snarled, because _why should he care_? And I pushed him. I was lucky enough for him to be off guard as I did, so he stumbled back a couple of steps.

Ghirahim scowled, looking less annoyed than I'd expected, but still stepped towards me. I backed off until I spotted my sword near my feet and snatched it up.

"You don't get it!" I yelled. Ghirahim eyed the sword in my hand for a second, before summoning a black sabre in his right hand.

"You won't do any damage to me with my own sword, put it down."

I ignored him and struck, Ghirahim easily deflecting my attack. I swung again and kept at it; I was just so _angry_. He didn't talk for a whole day and then just expected me to listen to him when he started feeling too lazy to go on? It was ridiculous!

"You're so up your own ass!" I shouted as I threw attack after attack at him. Ghirahim didn't make any move to do more than deflect my blows, though that could have been because I wasn't giving him time to. "You know - the reason I want these trials over _and_ the reason I asked you about your sword yesterday isn't because I'm some adventure-obsessed, 'honour bound prince'," I said through clenched teeth as I threw myself into him, so we were face to face and blades both pushing against each other's. "It's because I _care_. I _care_ about whether my sister lives or dies. I _care_ about the quality of your life."

Ghirahim's eyes finally became a little less cold and vacant, and I wondered if I'd finally gotten through to him. But in that brief moment of distraction he moved his arm in a circle, sliding our blades apart and knocking mine out of my hand. He threw down his own sword and grabbed my sword hand before I could swoop to pick it up or dive away.

I struggled, trying to wrench myself away from him but he only pulled me closer and grabbed my face with his other hand. I kicked out and kept trying to break away until his face moved in close, and then I just sort of froze.

Next thing I knew, his lips were on mine. His hand that he'd used to restrain me from turning away immediately became gentler and cupped my face rather than kept it in place, and the softer touch combined with his caressing lips made my eyes slide shut. My previous rage and outburst was almost forgotten completely as I melted against him, easily getting lost in the feel of his skin, his scent, how _soft_ he was being with me.

My heart was racing when he broke the kiss, though that could have been from the fight, and I sort of couldn't help blinking up at Ghirahim with wide eyes.

"What was that?" I said, dumbfounded.

"A thank you. For caring." He said, sort of awkwardly like that wasn't the whole truth, but he spoke again before I could ask. "You really shouldn't start this trial now, though. The sun's set."

I looked up at the sky and realised that it was the darkest blue, stars embroidered into it like a diamond-encrusted blanket. My eyes suddenly felt tired and dry, my eyelids having become heavy.

So I submitted and started to settle in to rest, promising to myself to wake at the break of dawn tomorrow. I felt almost rejuvenated by the thought, and the thought that things with Ghirahim felt like they were going to be a bit easier, now, maybe. I couldn't get my head around if he'd kissed me just to distract and win me over, or if his feelings were actually involved. I wasn't even sure if he saw this kind of thing as intimate or purely physical.

I must have zoned out, because I noticed eventually that the moon was in a completely different portion of the sky. I looked over at Ghirahim, who was asleep, but with a troubled expression on his face. I debated on shuffling over and brushing his hair out of his eyes but decided against it, since it didn't seem like it would help him anyway. He looked like whatever was bothering him was inside his head again, and I wished I knew what it was. Maybe there was no way to reverse the bond cast by a powerful demon, and my question last night had only reminded him that he'd never truly be free.

My hand clenched into a fist where it rested beside me. As soon as I knew Zelda was safe, I was going to do everything in my power to help Ghirahim. I promised myself.

 **.**

 **So I wasn't sure about this when I first published this fic, but someone just recently told me I should be calling this story "Hellward Sword"? I don't know, I mean it _was_ what first came to mind when naming this, and imo it sounds better, but Ghirahim isn't a demon in this fic? What do you guys think? **


	14. Chapter 14

**Happy International Coming Out Day!**

 **...What do you mean this is a day late?**

 **Okay so my internet died**

 **.**

I woke up the next morning feeling badly rested, as nerves seemed to have settled in my chest and stomach and affected my sleep. Ghirahim was already awake, and was ready with food and water as soon as I got up. We didn't say much to each other before we continued our journey, but the atmosphere between us felt a lot less hostile.

Tension, however, seemed to still be there, or at least _I_ felt it, but that might have been because I kept thinking back to that kiss yesterday, and why he'd initiated it.

I wondered if this kept windows open for more... encounters... of that nature, or if he was possibly just taking advantage of my feelings to distract me from an ulterior motive, or he was simply using my body. If it was the latter, though... Maybe it might be worth it?

I looked over at Ghirahim just as he ran his tongue over his lips absentmindedly, and I had to squeeze my eyes shut for a moment. I wasn't worried about tripping on anything as we were walking across flat, barren plains by this point, but I was too busy thinking about his tongue to even apply that reasoning to what I was doing.

 _I shouldn't be thinking about this,_ I scolded myself, _I shouldn't even desire it, I don't completely trust him-_

"Are you alright?" Ghirahim said, shaking me from my daydream. I felt a wave of heat flare up my already hot cheeks, and I guessed that I looked quite red. It didn't help that the sun was beating down on me, either.

"Sun's hot." I said quickly, trying not to splutter as I answered.

Ghirahim hummed. I liked his voice. "It gets worse when we get past the edge."

"The edge?" I repeated, and Ghirahim indicated what I'd thought was the horizon earlier, now to see it was much closer. The flat, dry ground just sort of... dropped off, and then there was nothing but blue sky.

As we reached "the edge", I saw why it supposedly got worse.

There was a steep drop, and then desert, just empty desert for miles and miles. The sandy earth appeared so washed out against the clear blue sky that just _looking_ at it made me feel thirsty. I got out my water pouch and took a swig.

"This used to be called the Lanayru Desert," Ghirahim explained, taking the water from me as I offered it. "I don't know what it's called now." He tipped the bottle to his lips and I watched as a single bead of water escaped and ran down his chin and neck. I suddenly wanted to lick it, so I looked back out at the desert.

"Where's the tongue- er, I mean," I sputtered, "trial chamber - the ritual chamber, whatever you call it?" I said, managing to pull off a tone that not only sounded like very faked nonchalance, but even sort of panicked. I saw Ghirahim look at me curiously out the corner of my eye, but I kept my gaze trained on the desert, though not really taking in the view.

"We're going to have to go down into the canyons," he said, still looking at me. I raised my eyebrows and nodded thoughtfully as I gazed outward, immediately cringing internally at my choice of acting. Ghirahim seemed to smile, before bumping me with the side of his hip, making me almost stumble to the side. "Come on," he said, and full-on _jumped_ onto the slope and slid down it. I watched him, trying not to gawk.

He landed smoothly on the lower ground and turned round to smirk up at me. I glared, before noticing a thin outcropping of rock to the left and a few yards below me, so I faced the music and jumped, slamming my feet down as I landed and breaking the shelf of rock from it's root in the ground. I wobbled but kept my balance as my makeshift board took me down the dune in one piece.

"Impressive," Ghirahim commented as I landed, less gracefully than him but still unharmed. I grinned hesitantly at him and walked past.

"Which way now?"

My sense of dread grew as we neared the canyons; macabre fossils poked out of the ground everywhere that reminded me of weathered illustrations in forgotten books from the library back home. My sister and I used to stare at the pages and make up stories about them.

 _"They were called 'robots',"_ Father had once said after finding us with one of the volumes. _"They used to live in the desert until their power source was mined up. Then they left..."_

 _But they didn't leave,_ I thought as I looked at the rusted bodies poking out of the ground. I was sure Father hadn't lied to us, nobody had reportedly visited this desert in ages - it was just part of our territory. He must have simply not known. I wondered how he'd feel if he saw this.

"They're ancient machines," Ghirahim explained as he caught me staring. He must have thought I had no idea what they were. I shook my head.

"They could talk. They had lives." I said, in a tone that was a mixture of confused and bitter. "They shouldn't have just been left here."

Ghirahim regarded the robots for a moment, and then looked back at me with an expression I didn't understand.

.

The trial chamber was located down what appeared to be a dried-up gorge. The sides were impossibly steep, and I wasn't sure how we were supposed to get down there.

"I can warp us down," Ghirahim offered. I froze, and suddenly remembered his teleportation magic. I turned to frown at him.

"Wait, why haven't you just used your magic to take us _everywhere_? We've been walking for days!"

"I'm not a god!" Ghirahim said, looking affronted. "I can only take us so far. I need a while for my power to regenerate, anyway. Now come here."

I paused again. "Why?" I asked, not bothering to mask the suspicion in my tone.

"It's a long way down there, and it's easier to move things farther if I'm touching them." He said without missing a beat, and held out his hand. I hesitated for a short moment, recalling how he had no problem taking us up that volcano for the first trial without touching, but caved and still gave him my hand. He pulled me close and moved his hand from mine to slip around my waist. I flushed and looked up at him, quickening heart betraying me. Ghirahim smirked.

"Hold on tight," he stage whispered, and clicked his fingers with his free hand - which I concluded at this point was entirely for show, not that I was complaining - and suddenly we were surrounded by tight space and rushing air that I couldn't breathe in, and then there were tall, rocky walls and a bone-dry riverbed of sand beneath my feet. I looked up to see the top of the gorge hundreds of feet above us.

"That will always make me lightheaded," I said, and then noticed Ghirahim hadn't let go of me yet. I looked back to see him gazing down at me through lowered lashes, and I felt my face get hot. I swallowed. "The teleporting." I added, and wriggled out of his grasp before I could embarrass myself.

Inspecting the gorge's walls in order to appear occupied, I noticed that part of the rock was clearly defined in a square shape. I walked up to the panel and pressed my ear to it, knocking on it with my left hand.

There was a faint echoing vibration I could hear, like the rock was thin and there was a cavity on the other side. I stepped back, slid my fingers in between the sections of rock and pulled.

"Do you need any help? You look like you can't - oh." Ghirahim said, as he watched me prize the rock away from it's frame and stepped back as the panel fell to the ground and shattered, chunks of limestone rolling and falling further into the gorge.

"I've underestimated you, Your Highness!" Ghirahim laughed as he stepped towards me. I gave him a pointed look. "Sorry. Link." He corrected, raising his hands in front of him apologetically. "Really though, I had no idea you had such strength!" He said teasingly, coming up next to me and squeezing my bicep. Bursts of electricity tingled up my arm at the sudden contact and invasion of personal space, but it wasn't like I was going to complain. I suddenly became aware of the doorway's edge that framed us, and that we were practically pressed up against each other underneath it.

Ghirahim let go, snapping me out of my trance, and I looked into the chamber. I could see the runes and the dark walls and, to momentarily suppress my sense of dread (and non-admittedly, for other reasons), I grabbed Ghirahim's shoulders and pulled him down to kiss him.

He responded immediately, which made my heart jump in the hope that _maybe he wanted this too_ , this confusing, conflicting tingle of emotions and sensations, as he cupped the back of my head and ran his fingers through my hair. It was a brief kiss, but it was intense, and although I wasn't sure what it meant, I hoped that he was feeling what I was.

We parted slowly but not completely, both having to keep pressing _one last kiss_ to the other's lips as we half-heartedly attempted to break apart. I ended up resigning to pressing my forehead to Ghirahim's, my eyes closed. Ghirahim ran his hands up my upper arms and inhaled deeply.

"Good luck," he said quietly, almost a sigh, and I felt him melt away from me. When I opened my eyes he wasn't there, and only my sword glowed as a clue.

 **.**

 **Again I'm sorry about pacing asdfghjkl, I'm just writing this for fun, hashtag yolo *says more unintelligent things***

 **Also agh I just saw this, thank you for the review Guest1! You so sweet:')**


	15. Chapter 15

The second trial chamber was vast, and bright and gloomy at the same time; a partly clouded sky was reflected off the chamber's floor, which was an expanse of motionless, shallow water.

I wasn't sure when the dark, decorative chamber had transformed into this endless open space, and I started to become a little unnerved by how exposed I suddenly felt. I gripped my sword tighter, grateful to still have some kind of anchor on reality.

Something shifted in my vision. I stepped back once and turned to look around, sending ripples through the water at my feet. I couldn't tell what was wrong exactly, but something definitely felt off. I tried to survey my surroundings without moving the water any more, but it almost felt like there was something on my back, even if I couldn't physically feel anything.

The water moved by itself. I looked down into it, too shallow to contain anything but the very base of my boots, but all I could see was my reflection.

Except, as I supposedly locked eyes with myself, my reflection seemed to darken. The sky stayed blue behind me as I began to turn grey, then black, my eyes becoming a shocking, glowing scarlet. The sword in my hand transformed into a monstrous blade that was somehow disturbingly familiar, and a malevolent grin grew on my face.

My reflection in the water dived, and suddenly they'd jumped out of the water and was stood right in front of me. Then they lunged.

I blocked with my own sword just in time, still processing what was happening. Our strength seemed to be equal, as neither of us could push the other's sword away at all and we just stood there, seemingly frozen as we battled it out. This creature, ( _my reflection?_ ) seemed to look exactly like me, but at the same time it was like I couldn't see his features, cast in shadow as they were. It felt like I kept forgetting his face as soon as I blinked, even though we were staring straight at each other. His whole appearance disturbed me deeply, especially the maniacal, tooth-baring grin that shone white against his dark features. It was like he was happy to be demented, happy to be a force of darkness.

My reflection moved away and jumped back, causing me to fall forward. I caught myself before I fell, lunging forward with my left foot, and rolling to the side just in-time to dodge his swing at my head.

We started to circle each other. "What do you want?" I barked, but my reflection didn't make a sound, only smiled wider. I looked again at the blade in his hand, jet black, large and jagged - like a row of diamonds layered atop one another...

 _Ghirahim's old sword?_ I thought, and had to parry another blow as my reflection attacked me again. But I didn't understand... Was this creature a reflection of my past? That couldn't be right, because I didn't know Ghirahim when his sword was that shape. I never looked like that, like emptiness cloaked in darkness.

I stood my ground and still wasn't sure how to attack my counterpart. _Unless, this creature is what I could become,_ I thought. I thought back to when this all started,

 _"Would the process change me? Would it make my soul dark?"_

 _"Only if you're weak enough to give into it."_

I chewed my lip as I ran that through my head. This creature wasn't me, it was a threat. This is what I would become if I was weak.

I wasn't very good at blocking low blows, so I guessed this monster wasn't, either. I aimed low and struck, my reflection grunting as my sword cut his leg. I wasn't sure it had worked at first as he didn't bleed, but as I backed away and he followed there was a definite limp in his step. I laughed humourlessly, still a little staggered by the whole situation, but that was enough to give _him_ an opening for a split second, and suddenly I was grasping at my shoulder.

I rolled to the side to get away, my reflection following after me. I went for his own shoulder as he caught up, but he blocked it. I tried feinting, but he saw through my trick. Whatever move I tried to make, he knew I was going to do it. Because he was me.

My heart would have sank as I thought it, if it hadn't been racing from fear and adrenaline. How was I supposed to defeat myself? I knew my own weaknesses, but so did he, and he could see my attacks coming a mile away.

 _Only if you're weak,_ Ghirahim's voice echoed in my head. It was just a memory, but it almost felt like my sword spirit was pulling it up to the surface again, encouragement when he couldn't speak himself.

I clenched my free hand, grit my teeth and dropped to the ground, kicking out with one leg as I did so. It knocked my reflection right off his feet so he fell on his back, the shallow water exploding in a violent splash around him.

I couldn't afford to be weak, because I'd be losing too much.

I jumped up and plunged my sword into his chest without hesitation, but he still managed to move as I did. My blade penetrated his shoulder, and I had to pull it out before he rolled away and took it with him. I noted with pride, though, that his body had faded slightly. I could see through him now, like he wasn't entirely there anymore.

My reflection stood up clumsily and growled at me, eyes still burning bright as ever, now looking furious. He lunged for me again, throwing his entire weight into me and I only just managed to block his blade with my own. We both pushed back, struggling for the upper hand, him losing a lot of whatever he had as blood and my sword arm's shoulder becoming increasingly more painful from the cut, blood staining my ripped tunic and chainmail.

Everything wobbled for a moment in my vision and I knew it was now or never. Using it for probably the first time since Colin gave it to me, I pulled my shield from it's forgotten perch on my back and slammed it into my reflection's shoulder, pushing his head to the side in the process.

He yelled, and I stepped to the side, dodging his sliding blade and moving my own to stab him right in the heart.

My reflection gasped, and went limp. I threw my shield to the side as he hit the ground backwards, and I kicked his sword away from him. I looked down at my reflection and suddenly felt confused, I mean, I had technically just killed myself.

The creature looked up at me with embers now, the glow in his red eyes almost immediately gone. He lifted his hand and offered it to me, and I almost stepped forward, but could still see that murderous glare flickering in his shadowed face. I wasn't sure how I felt - repulsed, maybe? - but it wasn't terror or victory, like I'd expected when I'd inevitably kill someone for the first time in combat. I'd never been in any duels or battles to date, because Hyrule had been so peaceful for so long, so I almost had to laugh at what a horrible first real fight this was: having to kill my _self_ , of all people.

The water on the ground froze and turned black, and the sky went black, and as everything seemed to fade away back into the trial chamber, I watched my reflection explode into ashes.


	16. Chapter 16

"Link, wake up..."

I blinked, not sure where I was at first. It was dark, and I was sat on sandy ground.

No, I was sat in Ghirahim's lap, and he was sat on sandy ground. He was holding me, almost cradling me like he was trying to shield me from something.

"Ghirahim?" I said, bemused.

"Oh my goddesses," Ghirahim breathed, shifting me so we were looking at each other. He looked serious, assessing my face with a concerned expression on his own. "Oh, Link. I'm so sorry." He said.

"I don't understand," I mumbled, trying to roll out of his hold on me. Ghirahim let me go. I looked around to see the decorated walls of the trial chamber and the jagged, rocky ones of the gorge were both gone, and that we were sat in the open desert under an evening sky. I turned back to Ghirahim. "What happened?"

Ghirahim hesitated, looking me over. "After the trial, I just found you standing in there, staring into space. You weren't in good shape."

I remembered the fight and touched a hand to my now bandaged shoulder, but also my face felt tight, my eyes stung.

"I was crying?" I asked, and Ghirahim just gave me a look to confirm it. My throat and chest tightened in an internal cringe, although I couldn't feel anything else wrong with me, so I stood up.

My legs shook underneath me as I did, and Ghirahim was suddenly at my side. He gripped my upper arms to steady me as I trembled all over, partly from my exhausted muscles and partly from the cold I realised was everywhere. I let myself sort of fall into Ghirahim, and he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"I'm so sorry, Link..." He said into my hair, rubbing a circles into my back. I let myself curl into him.

"Pretty c-cold, for a desert..." I commented, shivering, and Ghirahim laughed weakly. "Why are you sorry?"

"Because I'm the one who made you go through with this," He said through gritted teeth, though the anger sounded directed at himself. "I thought I'd lost you, you just... shut down."

I tensed, and shifted to look up at him. "You were that worried?"

Ghirahim seemed to have to search for a response. After several long seconds, he opted with "You're starting to sound like a girl-", trying to rebuild the guard that he'd let down far too long ago, but I wasn't listening, too eager to kiss him again. Ghirahim sighed and kissed me back, hugging me so tightly it was almost constricting. I had to gasp for air before I clutched mindlessly at his shoulders to keep him there.

I felt a familiar rushing sensation surround us, and opened my eyes to see we were now in some sort of cave. It was darker in here, though the mouth of the alcove let in enough twilight for me to see there wasn't sand on the ground. I looked back up at Ghirahim, who was inspecting me with heavily-lidded eyes, pupils blown wide in the dark, and I pulled him into a crushing kiss.

I pressed all of myself against him. I wanted this; I wanted to feel all of him, and I wanted these confusing, frustrating emotions to make sense when everything else in my world didn't.

"I want you," Ghirahim whispered against my lips, again as if he could read my mind. I shivered at the phrase, a little intimidated by hearing it spoken to me for the first time, and responded by biting his bottom lip and clutching at him harder, more desperately, and Ghirahim moaned into my mouth. I let my legs finally give way and started to sink, pulling Ghirahim down with me.

The floor of the cave was smooth and comfortable, which I was immensely grateful for as I leant back, letting Ghirahim climb on top of me. He broke the kiss as I lay down, sitting up to take his shirt off. I immediately copied him, Ghirahim helping me to take my tunic off around where the bandage was. His eyes roamed over my chest and stomach, and then settled on my shoulder.

He looked like he was debating whether to say something, or stop, never taking his eyes off the bandage as he paused. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him again, demonstrating I could still move fine, and pulled him down with me.

The cold stone and the night air of the desert weren't so bad at all when there was another warm body pressed against mine, and I arched into him as his mouth roamed over my neck. He dragged his teeth over a particularly sensitive spot that I didn't even know existed, right at the join between my throat and my right shoulder (the unharmed one), and I could only half help the noises that escaped my mouth.

"Hah," The sound was foreign despite coming out of my own mouth, sudden and high-pitched and involuntary as Ghirahim's tongue teased my entire chest. He looked up at me, seeming to be checking if I was okay, and then continued to kiss down my chest, keeping eye contact with me as I watched him. He squeezed my hip with his hand, a warning, and I let my head fall back. I felt his hand roam downwards, caress my abdomen and inner thigh before...

"You want this?" He said, voice suddenly rough as he rubbed his hand against me. I instinctively thrust closer.

" _Yes_ ," I breathed, skin setting on fire.

Ghirahim continued, tantalisingly slow, before pulling my pants down and wrapping a hand around me. It felt so different when we weren't in water, but that didn't mean it didn't feel good, _really good_.

"You're too much, Link..." Ghirahim said, voice dark with lust, almost sounding threatening if it weren't tinged with affection and I wasn't already desperate for this. I wanted to ask what he meant, but all the air in my lungs seemed to disappear when his mouth was on me, impossibly long and flexible tongue wrapping around me. My hands fisted beside me and I threw my head helplessly side to side as he did this, absolutely loving it and so overwhelmed at the same time. I barely noticed when a stray finger of his moved lower until it was inside of me.

I gasped, loud, like I was just surfacing from water for air. Ghirahim kept working, moving both his hands and his mouth until my head was fuzzy. Another finger joined the first one, and another, stretching me in a way I'd never experienced before. It felt weird at first, but not painful, and it wasn't long until I was nearly seeing white.

Ghirahim moved away, to my disappointment, but then he started tugging my trousers all the way off. I helped him, and helped take his off too, until we both sat there naked, taking each other in, and then Ghirahim moved in to kiss me again.

My head started to cloud over again when he suddenly pulled back slightly, eyes on mine and only inches away. "This is going to sting a little at first," he said gently, another warning. The thought daunted me when I was reminded of something that may help,

"Wait," I said, and rolled over from under Ghirahim to where my pouch was. I found the bottle and offered it to Ghirahim. "Here."

Ghirahim raised an eyebrow. "What is this?"

"Chu jelly." I said. Ghirahim didn't seem impressed. I felt some blood rush up to my face. "It's perfectly hygienic!" I explained. "It's just a basic multi-purpose thing. Some people eat it."

Ghirahim looked down at the bottle and laughed. "You Hylians are completely insane," he said, but pulled me into a kiss and pressed me back against the rock. And then we fell together, and this was amazing and terrifying and _new_ , but made me realise that this was everything I hadn't even known I'd wanted.

The pain was nothing compared to the things I'd had to experience prior to this, so I welcomed it, skin flushing and back arching and _it felt almost magical_ , doing something this intimate with someone. All at the same time it felt foreign - and incredible - and almost forbidden, like I'd just hexed someone I didn't like for the first time and enjoyed the act. _Except not nearly as serious as that,_ I thought, _because how can this be bad?_

I opened my eyes and Ghirahim was looking down at me, expression wanton and his lips parted. His breathing was hard as he leaned down to kiss me fleetingly, quick kisses that were so innocent that they made me almost _giggle,_ because we were doing _this_ , and then Ghirahim was pressing his forehead to mine and panting.

He whispered something I didn't quite catch, as every tingle and good feeling in my body began to move down, pooling at my abdomen. "Link," Ghirahim groaned, his voice louder, and I shuddered, and suddenly everything focused, and then froze for the smallest moment. My entire body tensed and arched, and I must have cried out because I was breathless and my throat stung by the time I was aware of everything again.

Ghirahim fell beside me breathlessly. I could feel his hot breath in my ear as he drank in air beside my head, and then pulled out of me slowly. I cringed a little at the odd sensation but didn't say anything, too occupied with catching my own breath.

"I think I forgot to breathe for a second," I said, and laughed breathlessly.

Ghirahim hummed, eyes closed. "Yes,"

I looked sideways at him, lying on his back, and shifted so I was on my side. I started to reach for him but hesitated, still a little tentative about how affectionate to be towards him. Ghirahim didn't open his eyes, but still managed to reach out and grab my hand to hold it against his chest. I sighed in relief, and shuffled a bit closer to lay my head on his shoulder.

I wasn't sure if I came fully back down to earth before I dropped off to sleep.

 **.**

 **I'M SORRY**


	17. Chapter 17

I thought I was on a ship as I woke up, until I opened my eyes and realised that the gentle rise and fall of my head was caused by Ghirahim's breathing. I was still resting my head on his bare chest.

I stretched without moving away and groaned happily, feeling well-rested for the first time in a week.

Ghirahim stirred and stretched too, and then I felt a hand in my hair.

"Your hair is like gold," He said sleepily. I chuckled and moved closer into him. Neither of us spoke for a few more minutes. "Last night was... Pleasant." He said, his voice a lot clearer now, yet also more tentative, like the statement was actually a question. I nodded in reply.

"Very."

"Yes?" Ghirahim said, sounding almost relieved. I sighed happily as his hand trailed down from my head to my back and hugged me closer. His skin was the perfect temperature against mine in the cool cave. I looked around without moving my head too much and my eyes landed on the sword, thrown down sort of carelessly. I couldn't even remember holding it after the trial.

"What made you want to become a sword spirit?" I asked, immediately worrying afterwards if I should have said that. My head was still a little hazy.

Ghirahim sighed. "I guess I didn't really have the choice to say no anyway, but I thought it would give me more power if I worked for Him, so to speak."

I didn't have to ask who ' _He_ ' was. I put my hand on Ghirahim's arm.

"It's not like I was tricked." He said. "I did get everything I thought I wanted at the time. I thought that was happiness."

"So you weren't happy?"

"Power can be dreadfully lonely, if it's the only thing you have." Ghirahim said in a casual, almost humorous tone, but I noted how his arm tightened around my waist. I squeezed his upper arm and closed my eyes again.

"Trade wisdom for wisdom?" Ghirahim spoke up, his voice rumbling through his chest into my ear. "I believe I've divulged quite a bit of my past, but I still don't know much about you, Prince Link."

The title sounded strange, coming from him, but I chose to ignore it and breathed deep, trying to enjoy the last of the haze in my head before it cleared. "There's not much to tell. My life hasn't been very eventful."

"Oh come now, you must have some story to tell. An embarrassing court meeting, a scandal with a servant, anything."

I laughed, and tried to think.

"Well, it's not a story of insight, but me and my sister used to get up to all kinds of mischief when we were little. That's the most exciting thing in my life I can think of."

"Mmm?" Ghirahim prompted. I continued.

"We just used to explore everything, but we were pretty stupid in the way we went about it. Most of the time we didn't get caught, but when we did, it was like all hell had broken loose." I said, smiling at the memories. "I think the worst thing I ever did as a kid was climb out a window at the top of the central tower's staircase. It took us right onto the roof."

"Your sister sounds as reckless as you," Ghirahim said playfully, and I smiled.

"There's this legend my family has," I explained, "that says Hyrule was ordered to be built by a goddess, and that she passed her powers down to us. Zelda and I used to be convinced that we were part of the 'chosen few' and that we were going to discover something amazing, so we explored all the time in the hopes that we would."

Ghirahim stayed quiet after I said this, and I frowned suddenly as some memory surfaced, a story Ghirhaim had told me down in the crypts about a goddess reincarnated. "Wait a minute, that myth was true this whole time?" I said, scrambling off his chest to look at him.

Ghirahim grunted as I put more weight on his chest to move off him, but laughed. "Most likely there was a mixup when recording the family tree, and you're not directly related to Hylia at all. That would explain how you manage to be so _ungraceful_ -"

"Hey!" I said, and pushed at his shoulder. Ghirahim laughed again but gazed back at me with gentle eyes, filled with thoughts that I couldn't read, and before I could say anything he leaned up to kiss me, and then all train of thought was lost.

.

By the time we made it out of the cave, the sun was high in the sky, which made my heart twist with guilt at how much time I was taking. I looked back at Ghirahim who was finishing putting on his clothes, and smiled at him as he walked up to me. His arms slipped around me and pulled me into a kiss, and I wasn't sure if my head spinning was because of the intense heat or if that was all his fault.

I broke the kiss, and Ghirahim lingered in front of me.

"Must we rush?"

I smiled sadly. "We only have so much time."

Ghirahim sighed, accepting, and straightened up. "You really love her, don't you." He said, pensive, looking out at the desert.

I nodded, and followed his gaze. "Of course."

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and looked up at Ghirahim. He was smiling slyly at me.

"I think I might just have enough energy to give us a boost," he said, and I realised what he meant. I braced myself before we warped to a different point, where the ground was more solid and grass was beginning to sprout.

"Where do you we go now?" I asked, looking around us. I didn't recognise this land, and there were no man-made landmarks. Probably because we were still too close to the desert to support much life.

"Your last trial will be in an actual temple, if it's still up." Ghirahim said, which surprised me. I looked up at him. "The demons started building something for Demise around the time he invaded. Think it was in the hopes to worship him after he began his rule," he explained, starting to walk. I followed. "The last time I was here, before your kingdom was built, it was still there. The energy coming from it was too dark for anything mortal to take it down, but time could have weathered it away by now."

"And what do we do if that's happened?" I asked. Ghirahim didn't seem to like his answer.

"We'd have to go far. Much farther than anywhere we've gone already," he said. I looked down at my feet, and hoped to Hylia that this place was still accessible.

 **.**

 **Hey guys! Aside from the hiatus a little while back, I've been trying to update this every three days to keep it regular without being overwhelming, but I've just started working on another GhiraLink fic and I want to have it on here for Halloween! Which isn't much time to double-check the planning and write the first chapter (by my organisational standards, anyway). So there might be a longer gap than usual between this chapter and the next instalment of Downward Sword. Please stay tuned!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Merry Christmas friends! (Yes, I missed Christmas by three hours - by my timezone at least - I'm sorry, I was watching Great Expectations and eating excessive amounts of food because I'm selfish)**

 **(Slightly) long(er) chapter this time to make up for my hiatus, and an even longer chapter next time (which will be uploaded soon and not in five years time I promise)**

 **I hope you're all doing well this holiday and enjoy this new chapter!**

 **.**

I found myself running my hands along giant, fallen trunks as we travelled past them, catching hanging leaves between my fingers and looking up at the sun-painted canopy high above us. It had been a long time since I'd been in a place like this, and even that had just been a local copse on the edge of the city, barely a wood. My senses felt electric and heightened in this forest, allowing my body to take in every sight and sound and smell of the alien environment.

I looked to Ghirahim, who walked through this place like it was just like how Castle Town or Crenel Village was to me. I'd noticed by now that he walked everywhere with that same sort of apathy, and it made me want to ask him if he'd been everywhere. He certainly seemed to understand a lot about a lot of different places.

A vague memory pulled at my mind, and I was reminded of something Ghirahim had said about the Ancient Woods a few days back.

"You said that my kingdom could attract 'friendly' spirits instead of dark ones, if we treated the forests differently." I phrased it like a question, and Ghirahim looked over at me sidelong, eyebrows raised by my sudden speaking up. The action widened his eyes so that they were illuminated by the sun at this angle, and the brightened hue of his irises reminded me of the maroon velvet in the main hall back home. The sudden connection in my head made me involuntarily suck in a quick breath, a homesick pang resounding in my heart.

Ghirahim either didn't notice or decided not to comment, because he didn't react past that before he replied. "You're referring to my rant over the local wildlife?"

I hummed, prompting him. Ghirahim pursed his lips as he stared forward.

"It's been a long while since I studied magic, so I can't provide you with much instruction on rituals," he continued, and this time it was my turn to raise my eyebrows. There were _rituals_ for this kind of thing? "...But I do know that if you destroy a spirit's home, they're not going to be happy about it."

"And what if that home was damaged an era before I was born? How am I supposed to fix something like the Ancient Woods?"

Ghirahim's eyes widened again and he turned to look at me fully, surprise plastered all over his face. _What was that look for?_

My sword spirit's gaze didn't waver at all for several beats before he spoke. "You think you can _fix_ that monstrosity?"

That made me look away. I... "I'd like to, I suppose." But I didn't like Ghirahim's tone. It wasn't insulting or criticising, at all, but it made me feel uneasy and made my voice smaller than I'd have liked.

My eyes moved back up to his, which were much softer now. The corners of his lips were pulled up from the subtlest hint of a smile, the look in his eyes mostly amused but tinged with affection. I looked away, blushing, not sure what I'd done and feeling embarrassed.

.

It was intimidating, moving within such a massive ecosystem. I could feel the life radiating off of everything like in the Ancient Woods, but the hostile atmosphere from there was replaced by something I couldn't name here and it made me almost jumpy. Still, I couldn't stop my eyes from being pulled up to look at the canopy even as Ghirahim explained something that was probably very relevant and important. This place made me feel incredibly small. I kept forgetting that Ghirahim was an eon older than me, had known my ancestor personally, and even now he was explaining how things worked to me - explaining the kingdom to its prince. I supposed I was just a speck to him.

"Link...?" Ghirahim's voice reached me, and something told me that this wasn't the first time he'd said my name. I blinked and focused my eyes on him. He looked concerned. "Are you feeling alright?"

I nodded, but couldn't stop the frown growing on my face. I pinched the bridge of my nose and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to control the sudden flow of emotion coursing through me. I felt Ghirahim grab my arm to halt my step.

"What's wrong?" He asked. He seemed genuinely invested in me, but my own confidence had always given me doubts around anyone who wasn't my immediate family. Still, I made myself be honest with him. It was the least I could do when he was the same with me.

"You must think I'm pretty stupid," I said, and made myself laugh as I said it. It was pretty laughable, I supposed. Ghirahim didn't smile. I continued, explaining. "A powerful sword spirit, serving an ignorant prince? You said it yourself that I don't even understand how the world I live in works, and then you actually put your energy into explaining it to me. How many decent men would do that?"

Ghirahim seemed to struggle not to grimace. "' _Decent_ ' is not a word I'd use to describe myself. You _do_ realise that I've killed people before?"

I almost halted in my tracks as the fact registered. That was another thing I was only just considering - from everything Ghirahim had told me about his past with my ancestor, too, the killings probably didn't have any justification.

"Yes," I said, trying to sound thoughtful in an attempt to cover up my hesitation. I supposed that I'd never thought about Ghirahim that way because he'd never shown that side to me. He'd always been a mage in my eyes; someone who seemed to have a better understanding of magic and my kingdom's past than anyone I could expect to meet, and someone I trusted, probably more than I should have.

I looked back at him, and he was still looking at me, maroon eyes continuing to be illuminated as the sunlight through the canopy caught it.

He was someone I couldn't deny I was falling for.

"What made you change your path?" I asked suddenly, because now was clearly an appropriate time to take an interest in Ghirahim's life philosophy. To elaborate, because he already looked confused, I added, "why were you so eager to help me when I first entered the woods?"

Ghirahim still seemed taken aback, but began to open his mouth to speak.

He was interrupted as a gigantic hand came down and knocked us both off our feet.

"Oof!" I grunted as the wind was knocked from my chest and the back of my head hit the forest floor. I rapidly blinked back pinprick tears of shock so my eyes could lock onto the towering stone golem, probably twice my height, that was looming over me. My heart had stopped in my chest, until I realised that his craggy face was glaring past me and at Ghirahim, and then I couldn't tell if I was relieved or more frightened.

"Wanderers not welcome." The golem boomed out in a deep, grating voice. He shifted his feet and I tensed to roll out of the way, but he only planted them back down on the forest floor with loud _thump_ s, reestablishing his already intimidating stance. Ghirahim was already standing back up as I stayed on my back, propped up by my elbows.

"We don't wander. We seek the Temple of -" Ghirahim said a word I could never dare to pronounce or even remember as soon as it was finished, the sounds scraping across my ears unpleasantly like the ground that had just grazed my skin. The golem, however, seemed to understand it. The moss on his face - conveniently similar to eyebrows in placement and appearance - pulled down to allow him to glare at my sword spirit.

"What business do you 'av there?"

Ghirahim nodded in my direction, and I felt myself turn white as the golem rounded his crushing gaze on me. "Spiritual sacrifice," Ghirahim said with ease as I kept my eyes locked with the golem's, trying to stare him down, slightly unsure if I was actually just unable to tear my gaze away of my own accord.

Thankfully the golem looked away at that, rounding back on Ghirahim.

"You're th'only escort?"

Ghirahim frowned, looking impatient in a detached sort of way, but I thought I could sense a nervous tension coming off him. He straightened up slightly, still nowhere near to measuring up to the stature of the creature blocking our way, but tutted at it nonetheless like it was a small pest.

"I'll have you know that I have been serving directly under the Demon King since before this temple was erected, and probably longer than you've been alive." His tone was suddenly so cold and threatening that I barely noticed the golem's own surprised expression. "I've had no trouble finding my way so far, and if you don't stand down this instant then I'm afraid I shall lose my patience."

He continued to glare in an almost bored way, and I watched as the golem reluctantly reached the decision to back down. His eyes broke away from my sword spirit's in order to flit around at our surroundings in a sort of lost and nervous way, before settling back on the both of us underneath lowered eyebrows.

For a moment I wondered if he believed Ghirahim, and began to tense as he spoke, "Apologies." The golem said, stepping aside. "I'll escort you. 's this way."

As the creature turned to move away, Ghirahim sent me a pained glance that I think was meant to be apologetic. My lips pressed into a thin line as I fell into step beside him again, careful not to look too comfortable in my "captor"'s presence when someone was now watching. I hoped that this wouldn't complicate things at the trial chamber.

It wasn't long before the golem led us to where I could tell the final trial would take place - a towering stone building, half in ruin and coated in moss and vines, so much so that the elaborate carvings running up the walls were almost invisible, but I at least managed to recognise the upside-down triforce over the great front doors. The structure looked abandoned and neglected and utterly untouched, and a small part of me (that I hadn't even noticed until now) relaxed significantly. It was a relief to know that this awful place wasn't still in use.

"I hope you don't mind waiting outside," Ghirahim said in a blasé tone to the golem, who still looked too taken aback by the earlier outburst to argue with his supposed authority. He still stood guard at the door with a grudging expression trained on the both of us, and I found that I couldn't tear my gaze away until the heavy stone doors of the temple had swung shut behind us, blocking him from view and trapping me inside the final trial chamber.


	19. Chapter 19

**To the people asking: Bound and Work in Progress WILL be updated soon, I'm just so close to finishing this story and I'm trying to focus on this for now to get it out of the way (and to reassure people that I am not one of those authors on here that never finishes anything) instead of spreading my attention too thin. I promise they'll be updated soon, and thank you - _SO much_ \- for reading. *kisses ur nose***

 **.**

I turned around to face the inside of the temple, but didn't really get to look before Ghirahim was stood in front of me, hands gripping at my shoulders, gaze boring into mine.

"I'm sorry about this, Link," he said, eyes lowering in thought. "This is going to make leaving the temple much more complicated..."

Leaving. Of course. Of course we'd need to leave afterwards, because...

I let one of my hands reach up to curl around his wrist reassuringly so that he knew I was ready, and when he looked back at me I put on my bravest smile. I remembered why we were here. Zelda was so close, now, and I was finally going to be able to save her. I just had to get this trial over with and then we'd be together again.

Ghirahim didn't seem to be having the same thoughts as me. For a split second he looked frightened, almost terrified, but the look was swiftly replaced with something firm and serious.

"As soon as I return to my sword, this trial will start. Are you ready?"

I gripped the hilt of my sword tighter at that. There was something increasingly comforting of having Ghirahim with me during these trials, even if he usually only stayed in his sword form. I still had to fight the urge to kiss him goodbye before he left this time, opting to simply nod in affirmation.

Ghirahim looked hesitant to leave, but as I opened my mouth to speak he had already dissolved away again, and I felt the tungsten hilt slip out of my grasp. I looked down and it had disappeared as well. Before I could start to panic, the entire chamber shifted and I was thrown through a disarray of colour and wind.

The scene settled on a clearing, lively and littered with flowers and lush grass. The sky was bluer than I'd seen it for the last week, and the trees were a brighter green than I remembered seeing anywhere around Hyrule. I felt lost in the new surroundings, but as I pivoted on the spot I turned to see a giant circular fissure in the ground. Confused, I walked to the edge and looked down into it - the fissure was hundreds of feet deep, carved out of the earth in a sloping path that spiralled all the way down to the bottom. I noticed, as I looked down, that there was something standing in the centre at the very base of the pit. Seeing nowhere else to go to but there, I decided to follow the path, all the way down, until I reached what I discovered to be a sword placed in the ground at the centre.

It was a strange sword - the blade shaped like a row of blackened diamonds overlapping each other...

"If you haven't noticed yet, there's a theme with these trials." I heard Ghirahim's voice echo around me. I looked around for him as I stepped into the base of the pit, even though I knew I wouldn't be able find him. The sound was inside my head.

"The first trial made you confront your future: the terrors awaiting you in those woods. If you're not able to face your future, then you can't move forward, so that had to be tested first of all."

The ground beneath my feet suddenly lit up into an array of coloured diamonds, see-through and bright like glowing stained glass. The platform shuddered underneath me and all of a sudden was raising off the ground, taking the black sword with it. I wobbled, but didn't try to jump off, letting it take me too.

"The second trial made you confront your present - your fear of losing yourself to darkness. Instead of killing a monster, something inhumane and evil, you had to fight against the part of you that frightens you the most." Ghirahim continued, still everywhere and nowhere, still invisible. A pillar of black energy exploded in front of me, where the sword had been, and I took a step back. I looked down through the diamond platform under my feet to see that I was high off the ground now, far too high to escape.

"The past is possibly the hardest thing to confront," Ghirahim's voice said, emotion seeping through and now sounding sort of melancholy, even sad. "You're constantly moving away from it, so it's easy to ignore it and pretend it doesn't exist." The sound was coming from the energy pillar now, the pulsing of which was calming down. As I focused on it, I thought I could see a dark figure between the black diamonds that rose upwards through the pillar.

"The past, present and future are like power, wisdom and courage, Link. If you're unable to accept them all then the balance is lost." The voice said, now sounding warped, distant, echoing, wrong in some way. The black diamonds cleared.

A man stood opposite me on the glowing platform, but he wasn't exactly a man. And he was Ghirahim, but he wasn't Ghirahim. He was taller, and darker - completely jet black, even - with blindingly white diamond patterns printed across his body, and a silver, diamond-shaped casing now over where his heart was, protecting it. He was breathtakingly beautiful, and at the same time terrifying, evil, repulsive; because this _was_ Ghirahim, and I didn't like this side of him, not one bit.

I felt something shift in my hand and looked down to see another sword there. It wasn't my broadsword, but one with a deep violet hilt and a steel blade, the triforce etched in at the base of it.

"The Master Sword?" I breathed. I noted that my clothes were slightly different as well, my tunic had shifted to a slightly bolder shade of green and the fabric felt lighter.

Ghirahim shifted on his feet, his footsteps making a heaving _chink_ each time, like the sound of armour boots stepping on polished stone. I looked up at my sword spirit, my friend, my- he'd even been - and I regarded him in horror as I watched a sword materialise in his hand, too, much bigger and darker than mine, and realised what was about to happen.

"I'm sorry." Ghirahim said, his voice normal for a brief moment; completely his, though unbelievably sad, and then suddenly his expression changed.

He looked demented as he stepped forward to strike me, and I barely managed to roll out of the way before his sword smashed into the diamond platform where I'd been standing. It was hard to watch him and where I was putting my feet, and I almost fell off several times as he chased me around the small arena.

"Stop-" I yelped, somewhat pathetically as I kept trying to move away. It was like he wasn't even there, like this was just a phantom, an apparition of his true self. He didn't say anything as he cornered me on the edge, only glared at me.

Panicked, I threw myself into him, swiping my unfamiliar new sword this way and that, trying to knock him away from me. Ghirahim held his sword up to block and I just kept swinging, until I noticed my hits were breaking away his blade.

Realising what I was supposed to do, I continued the attack, chipping away at his gigantic sword until the blade shattered and Ghirahim was thrown off balance. I swiped at him again and my sword didn't cut him (which I was immensely grateful for), but it still pushed him back, so I kept going. I kept going until I didn't feel the threat of a drop behind me anymore.

It was too late by the time I'd realised my mistake, and all of a sudden Ghirahim was the one to fall, toppling over the edge. A new, hurriedly-generated platform appeared below to catch him just in time, and I winced as I heard the metallic _crash_ of his body hitting it. I ran to the edge immediately.

"Ghirahim!" I yelled, peering down at him and unsure of what to do.

"Please," I heard him wheeze, and I froze, confused.

"What do you need?"

Everything was silent for two beats, and in that time I noticed that the sky had clouded over during our fight. There was no wind, though. Everything was deathly silent and eerily wrong, aside from a faint intake of breath from Ghirahim.

"I need to not be this again. I can't bare it, Link," he said, his voice sounding exhausted and immensely tired. "This isn't me. Not anymore. I don't want this."

His eyes met mine even from the distance between us, hard and serious and commanding. My eyes began to sting as I looked down at this warped version of Ghirahim, still not sure what to do.

"Link, please-"

"I can't just _kill you_!" I shouted, still leaning over the platform's edge. "How could my ancestor do this to a living being..." I said, more quietly and to myself. I just couldn't understand. Whatever Ghirahim had done in the past, couldn't Link have seen that the "demon" he was fighting was just a pawn? Because that's all he'd really been, right?

...Who had been the monster here?

Ghirahim's breathing sounded echoing and inhuman, like he was breathing into a glass instead of the open air. His breaths were laboured and used too much effort as he prepared to speak again, and my heart began to hurt more than ever before. I couldn't look at him like this.

"If you don't confront this past, you'll fail the trial..." He said, but I shook my head. "Link..." He said again, voice breaking this time. "Your sister..."

 _ **Zelda**_ **.**

Zelda was the reason I was here. Zelda was going to die without me. Ghirahim was begging for death.

I screamed and looked at the sword in my hand, beautiful and divine but a tool for murder, and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to live with myself and where I came from after this trial was over.

Slowly, I stood to my feet and readied my sword. Ghirahim looked calm as I jumped from the platform, and almost relieved rather than pained as the blade shattered the plating on his chest and plunged into his heart.

Everything went still. Our heartbeats stopped. The shine in Ghirahim's whitened eyes glazed over and the platform crashed to the ground.

I blinked.

We were back in the temple.

I was standing over Ghirahim, back to normal, who was lying down, and my hands were hovering over the centre of his chest. His eyes stared blankly at the ceiling and I felt the tears come, hot, heavy, unwelcome and burning up my eyes like acid as I caved and sank onto Ghirahim's body, collapsing onto his chest. My own chest heaved irregularly as I clutched at his arms, trying to hold onto some form of comfort after the trauma of that ordeal.

Something firm and heavy wrapped around my back. It was thick and had a strong grip on me, just like the tree roots in the first trial, so I tried to throw myself off, break myself from its hold and get away. Its grip on my back tightened and I yelped despite my now-hoarse throat, disoriented and not sure how to free myself.

"Stop squirming," Ghirahim said in an annoyed tone that only he could still sound soft with, and I froze. I looked up at his face and he was peering back down at me, alive and exhausted.

"Ghirahim..?"

 **.**

 **NEXT CHAPTER: NEW YEAR'S DAY**


	20. Chapter 20

**Oh my GOD, so, guess who had a crisis on New Year's Day**

 **I won't bother you with the details because you're most likely here for sort of OoC Ghiralink**

 **I am so so so sorry for posting this two days late, I'm hoping to make up for it by this chapter being twice as long as they usually are**

 **I hope your year's been off to a good start! Goodness knows I'm glad to put 2016 behind me.**

 **.**

"Ghirahim...?" He was alive?

He didn't say anything more, just gave me a (very) small smile. I gaped.

"I watched you die."

"I'm sorry," he said weakly, "if I'd told what would really happen then you'd automatically forfeit the trial,"

I realised what had happened. "I thought I'd murdered you," I said, more tears falling from my eyes. I gasped. "Oh, I'm so sorry."

I knew that that would never be anywhere near enough to amend what had just happened, so I just buried my head into his shoulder and tried to breathe, panic almost overtaking me again. But Ghirahim was alive. I passed the trial. The trial made me kill him, but he actually wasn't even hurt.

"I didn't want to kill you, I couldn't, but you- you were begging-"

"I know." Ghirahim's voice was amplified when I was this close to his chest. The rumbling base against my ear calmed me a bit. He began to stroke my hair, which helped as well. I closed my eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Link."

I looked up at Ghirahim and took in his dark brown eyes. They were like earth, or tree bark or something so much richer and more beautiful that I couldn't even find a name, and I just wanted to commit him to memory. All of him.

I reached up a hand to stroke the side of his face, and he didn't move away so I let it stray into his silver-white hair. My fingers combed through the soft strands until they moved to the back of his head, where I supported him as I shuffled up to kiss him. Ghirahim breathed in deep through his nose and I sighed audibly in turn, so overwhelmed with emotion that it was just all too much.

My other hand clamped onto his shoulder and I ground my hips against his, overcome with this want - heavens - _need_ to be with him and be this close. Ghirahim moaned as I shoved my tongue into his mouth greedily, though he sounded slightly uncomfortable, and was quickly retracting his arm from my back and put it on my shoulder, breaking us apart.

"Link." His face was serious. My heart suddenly plummeted and my chest froze over like I was trying to protect myself inside an icy cage from whatever he was going to say - I was already shutting down and to numb myself from pain. _Of course he wouldn't want this when I just stabbed him in the chest,_ I scolded myself, feeling my face flush with a humiliated heat. I'd just initiated two polar extremes onto him in the space of minutes, and then expected him to still want me after all this? I'd ruined it, ruined whatever slim chance I had with this practically ethereal man.

I moved off of him then and he sat up, keeping his eyes locked on my face, his expression frozen in that same terrifying one. He crossed his legs in front of me and sat up straight, gesturing for me to do the same.

"There's something you need to know." Ghirahim said suddenly, and his tone was nothing like I'd ever heard it before. It wasn't cold or aggressive, or smooth or flirtatious or joking, or even reserved and distanced. It was too straight-forward, far too direct for Ghirahim, so much so that I wasn't sure if he was jesting at first. "I can only tell you that this-" he started again, and then almost seemed to trip over his words, unsure of what to say. This wasn't Ghirahim anymore. I wondered if I had actually killed a vital part of him.

He grew distant for a moment as he seemed to collect himself and find the right words. "It isn't the same anymore. That's why I'm going to show you." And with that, he held out his hands, chest-level and palms up, offering them to me. I took the cue and took his hands, and then I felt a pulse of magic shoot from him into me, spreading across my body like a blanket being thrown over me.

In the fraction of the second that it took me to blink, the world around me disappeared and was replaced by a tiny, dark room. I could see that two men were stood together inside of it.

As they began to speak, I realised that this was a memory.

 _"You_ are _Link's son, are you not?" Said Ghirahim, and my past self looked surprised._

 _"Link lived over a hundred years ago." I said._

I felt feelings wash over me like the magic from moments ago - covering me so I could feel them myself, but were, unsettlingly, not my own. Just outside of my body, almost like I was reading a mind - I felt relief, which was suddenly followed by anger, and grief, and triumph, and humiliation, and complete and utter _exhaustion_.

The small tomb's walls suddenly shifted and expanded until they had grown into great tree trunks, their branches casting shadows over Past Link and Ghirahim, who were now stood side by side.

 _"This place is very evil," said Ghirahim. "I can sense it... Just beyond these trees there's something -_ big _. And malicious."_

Again, I felt flashes of emotions that weren't my own, uncomfortably and unexplainably external: apprehension, but also a sort of hopeful curiosity. I felt (and these were _my_ own feelings this time) myself frown in confusion at that, though I wasn't exactly sure if I still had my own body to frown with in whatever this peculiar plain was... But before I could try to look down and check if I was entirely _there_ , the scene shifted again. We were out in the wilds, now, away from the Ancient Woods.

 _"The wounds could get infected. You should keep them clean."_

 _"Why do you care?" I said, and Ghirahim looked away._

I distinctly felt guilt jabbing at me, and a fear of being caught.

 _"Or ignore my generous advice..."_

The words were completely insincere, just a cover up for something else that I couldn't understand. And the scene was shifting again already, leaving me disoriented.

It was the same place again, but Ghirahim was now alone, examining his new clothes.

 _He sat down in front of the camp fire, the one we'd later cook my small catch of fish on._

I could feel anxiety now, but where _I_ was still confused, the anxiousness came from somewhere else again. As Past Ghirahim stared into the fire, I felt the slightest inkling of what was waiting for me in the Ancient Woods, large and destructive and _evil_ and surprisingly easy to comprehend.

 _Past Link returned with the fish and Ghirahim started laughing. As I grumbled out an embarrassed defence about being the only one to provide food,_ _Ghirahim took off his cloak and wrapped it around my shoulders. My cheeks flushed as I sighed and thanked him._

My past words triggered more feelings that weren't my own to flood through me - surprise at being thanked, and something else as I watched Past Ghirahim watch my Past self, something I recognised because it was how I had felt whenever he'd said something suggestive or let his guard down in front me for the first few days.

 _Slight, apprehensive, reluctant affection._

Again, the positions shifted without the environment changing and this time I could feel foreign anger encasing me.

 _"Do I_ look _like a demon?" Ghirahim snapped._

The anger pulsated around me like heat, but there was something particular fuelling it. Hurt, maybe, or betrayal. I supposed it was both. I cringed at this memory, silently scolding myself for being so ignorant. This must have really gotten to Ghirahim, more than I'd realised, if he was showing it to me now.

I started to wonder if he hadn't forgiven me for that mistake, but then another feeling washed over me, more complex than an emotion: a thought.

It was about the dark force, the demon, buried in the Ancient Woods. It was a decision surrounding that.

The scene shifted again, and I was too disoriented to process the end of the thought, words of Ghirahim's that he'd never actually said echoing with the shifting landscape.

 _-just another monster to him, he'll cast you aside as soon as he's used you..._

We were in the hot springs and I'd just leaned in and kissed him. I felt Ghirahim's feelings spark around me this time, I sensed lust and the vulnerability hiding behind it.

 _Can't let him use you first..._

Another shift. Somehow I was able to see through the dark of the inn's bedroom.

 _But is he...?_

It was when we'd had the argument in bed. I'd just asked about breaking the bond with his sword...

 _You're using him._

His thoughts lagged in my head, and when they did catch up with me I only became more and more confused. What did he mean? How was he using me?

The scene shifted again to the next day and our third kiss.

 _"What was that?"_

 _"A thank you. For caring."_

 _Your priorities are tangling..._

Shift. We were at the second trial chamber. I pulled Ghirahim down to kiss him and he immediately kissed me back.

 _Tangling..._

We were sinking to the floor of the desert cave together, moonlight hitting our suddenly exposed skin, and I couldn't tell if I felt flustered or confused or scared or all three.

 _Doesn't deserve this..._

"Stop!" I yelled, and tried to pull myself back to earth, back to my body so I could pull away or thrash in protest or _something_. I suddenly felt Ghirahim's hands move away from mine and I opened eyes that I hadn't even realised had slid shut. Ghirahim was looking at me with a sort of resigned expression, but there was obvious sadness and fear in his face. I couldn't understand it. He scrunched his face up and frowned up at the ceiling, like he was trying to concentrate on not giving anything away.

"When I told you about the trials, I was angry. I thought you were an ignorant, shallow prince, and naive enough that you'd dive right into wherever I told you to go. And you did. You followed me all the way to that volcano and jumped right in."

My mouth was dry. I wasn't sure if I could speak. I managed to croak out a weak "Why?"

Ghirahim swallowed, and I saw his pupils were just pinpricks inside his brown eyes.

"The demon in The Ancient Woods - if you were able to find it, and get close enough, then I would be able to absorb it's energy." He paused, as if to let his words sink in. "I'm not a demon, but I do possess demonic magic. I used to be able to draw power from lesser demons, and I planned to do that, with your help. Get you into the forest and then just fend for myself." He paused again, but this time it seemed to be because he was struggling. "If you died while fighting it, then I'd finish it off with the last of my power. If you didn't die, then I'd still absorb the demon when you were done, and then I'd leave."

"To do what?" I asked, appalled. I realised I was still sitting right next to him and shuffled away. Ghirahim sat up straighter immediately,

"If I had enough power, then I could break the bond from my sword. I made this plan solely to be free, I wasn't seeking power." He said, looking at me with _sympathy_. Like I was a _fool_ for trusting him.

"You used me."

Ghirahim held the same expression, like he'd been expecting this response, which just insulted me more.

"Link," he said, moving to sit on his haunches and coming over to crouch in front of me. "I'll never be able to express how much I regret this, this plot that didn't consider you," he said, placing a hand on my cheek. "Everything changed in that spring, because of you, and when-"

"And the reason you got pissed-off when I mentioned trying to free you? In the inn?" I said, brushing his hand away. "That was because you _did_ know how to break your bond."

Ghirahim's eyes looked sad, but that didn't excuse his crouching in front of me, like I was some upset child and he was trying to explain why I was overreacting. Moments flashed back in my head - ways he'd looked at me, ways he'd spoken to me - and I realised I was just a child to him.

"Get away from me," I said, disgusted, and stood up. Ghirahim watched me as I stepped away, and then jumped up after me.

"Link, where are you going?"

I wasn't sure. Everything was happening so fast, I just had to get away.

Ghirahim grabbed my arm. "Link, please."

I glared back at him and ripped my arm away. "Don't act like I'm the one in power here." I wanted to say more, but I'd never been a fan of monologues and I knew I'd embarrass myself further if I kept talking right now, so I continued out the temple doors.

"LINK!"

A gigantic hand that swung down towards my head, and I ducked only just in time to avoid it. Throwing myself forwards as fast as I could, I managed to get a decent distance away so I could turn around. The golem was glaring down at me from the doorway, clearly having been guarding the temple until the "sacrifice" was over.

Ghirahim thrust one of the stone doors back open, looked me over, then at the golem, who hadn't ripped its gaze away from me. Without hesitation Ghirahim sent a blast of magic towards the monster, light exploding around its leg, sending chunks of rock rolling away as debris. The golem, now missing a foot, lost its balance and crashed to the ground.

I watched, frozen as the golem reached out to grab Ghirahim, but he easily sidestepped its hand and cast another spell at its arm. The monster roared - more aggressively than in pain - and I snapped out of my trance just in time to jump out of the way of more rocks that flew in my direction. I watched Ghirahim move to dodge another hit from the now half-limbless guardian of the dark temple, and I noticed his eyes as he held out his hand to attack again, magic glowing in his palm. Those eyes were so different from what I was used to. They looked vicious and animalistic, not like they belonged to someone who was just fighting in their defence.

He was enjoying this.

Another chunk of rock rolled quickly towards me, and it was all the prompting I needed to turn away.

It wasn't long before I heard Ghirahim calling after me but he wasn't close by anymore since I'd moved further away. I remembered his sword was still in the temple, essentially bound to that location until I picked it up and moved it, so I knew he wouldn't be able to follow me. I picked up my pace, and I didn't look back as I started to run. I had to run, as my heavy breathing and feet pounding the ground were the only things that could drown out his voice.

 **.**

 **I feel like there's four more chapters of this.**

 **Also, in order to keep my updates more regular from now on (and to not overwhelm _myself_ since uni's starting again next week), I'm going to try and post a new chapter every Saturday or Sunday rather than every three or four days, since that clearly hasn't worked out so far. I don't want to mess you guys about anymore so I'm choosing reliability over urgency. I hope you'll stick with me until the end of this.**


	21. Chapter 21

**CAN I JUST SAY I LOVE YOU ALL?**

 **Thank you for just, for following and reviewing and favouriting**

 **Like the reviews just make me beam, I look so stupid when I read them, but you guys give genuine feedback about which parts you liked and which weren't clear and that _really_ helps**

 **And in general, it means so much that all of you have taken the time to read this**

 **I cannot express how much all of this means to me.**

 **.**

Everything was a blur until I caught myself sitting with my back against a tree trunk, exhausted and looking up at the canopy, an unmeasured amount of time later. I want to say that I was stressed, or upset, or _something_ , but my mind had been numbed, a thick cloud having replaced it inside my head. My heartbeat was now normal and calm (finally, after being forced to double over and almost be sick minutes ago, from running so much), and my thoughts were absent. I regarded the yellow-greens of the branches sheltering me and enjoyed how relaxed they made me feel.

My gaze lowered to the forest floor and I noticed a renegade bluebell staring back at me from a few feet away, the last to bloom on the edge of the sea of green stems behind it. I smiled as it's purple hue reminded me of the dress Zelda was wearing at my coronation, and then I froze entirely.

I needed to get back to Ghirahim immediately if I wanted a sword. Muscles stiff from cooling down, I ripped myself off the forest floor and whirled around, lost. _Which direction had I come from?_

I started in the direction I thought was correct, but I quickly realised that the footsteps and cracking of branches weren't solely coming from my own two feet. Quickly after I stopped, so did the other pair of feet, and I found myself desperately turning my head in every possible direction in order to find whoever was with me.

They found me first.

"Prince Link?" A vaguely familiar voice called out tentatively, and I whipped around to face one of the palace guards. I thought I recognised his face, although I couldn't put a name to it. He was geared up more than the guards usually were around the palace grounds, and I realised why he was out here.

As fast as my mind could work, though still a little sluggish, I made myself bolt away from him and deeper into the forest. If I got into that thicker patch of trees I might be able to lose him...

"Stop!" I heard more voices sounding behind me, calling to each other in confusion. I cursed the Golden Goddesses under my breath for my bad luck and put all my strength into outrunning them. I didn't put energy into guessing how many of them were behind me, I was probably younger than and just as fit as all of them, I could do this.

"Your Highness, stop!"

I didn't like the sound of that. I couldn't hear the steady binary rhythm of human feet anymore, they were completely drowned out as I focused on the sound of galloping immediately behind me. And the new voice that had just called out behind me - another guard, no doubt - was as close as these new footsteps, which were quickly gaining proximity. The shock of the horse and rider's sudden appearance in my ears was enough to make my steps falter, and the next thing I knew I was splayed out on the ground, chin grazed.

The horse stopped in front of me, all I could see of it were its hooves - and soon a pair human feet dropped down next to the animal. The rider crouched down and looked me over.

"Your Highness, are you alright?"

I held my tongue, too busy thinking of a way out to talk. I picked myself up, though, still able of that, at least.

"Your Highness, we must return to Hyrule at once! Your mother and father have been worried sick," the guard said, and I shook my head.

"I know how to find Zelda. I can't go back."

The guard looked at me, dumbfounded. I stood there awkwardly awaiting a response, some sort of conformation that I could leave.

"You can tell my parents that you know I'm safe, but I really need to go-"

"Ah, not so fast!" The guard said, blocking me with his arm as I tried to move past him, "our patrol is under strict orders to return you home safe."

 _I figured as much._ "I can't go with you." I said, my tone a warning. The guard didn't seem fazed. I heard more footsteps approach behind me.

"You must," he insisted, and took my wrist. I tried to wrench it away from him but his grip tightened as I moved. "We can't negotiate this, your Highness, I'm sorry-"

"Don't you understand?" I shouted at him, turning my head to look at the other guards, pleading with them. "Your _Princess_ is trapped in the Ancient Woods and I'm the only one who can get to her without getting killed! You can't take me away when I've come this far!"

"These aren't the Ancient Woods..." One of the other guards muttered, misunderstanding, and I kept shouting as another guard locked my arms behind my back.

"You need to be safe and resting, your Highness." One of them said, the pity and exasperation ringing from his voice. They all probably thought I was delirious.

"I am NOT confused!" I yelled, straining against the binds that had been placed on me, "Let me go! I command you to let me go!"

They didn't let me go, no matter how much I protested as they sat me up on the horse and galloped away with me. I argued until Castle Town was in sight, and then I resigned myself to a fuming silence.

As we reentered the castle, the guards brought me straight to the King's conference hall, where we found my father, pouring over maps that were scattered about the great table. If everything wasn't a little more haphazard than the last time I'd seen him, then I'd have been sure that he hadn't moved for a week.

He didn't look up as we entered. I kept silent, angry for being brought back, but also worried for what he was going to say. There would be no way of convincing my father to let me go back out there, and I wouldn't be surprised if he'd confine me to my chambers. Zelda's time was running out and I was panicking, but I didn't want to make him more irrational, if I wanted a chance to escape again.

"We found the Prince, your Majesty."

Now my father looked up. I was shocked to see the circles under his eyes, dark as Ghirahim's skin, and the beard that had made itself at home along his jaw. He looked awful.

"My son," he said, staring at me. My heart broke as he looked me over in disbelief, like he was seeing a ghost. He suddenly got up and stumbled towards me weakly like a drunkard, and I wondered how much he'd eaten since I'd left. "Link," he breathed, reaching me, and wrapped me in a surprisingly strong hug. I couldn't help but hug him back, my breathing losing its steadiness for seeing him in this state. He'd never been like this in front of me before.

I heard the doors open behind me, but my father didn't pull away until another voice sounded.

"Link?"

It was my mother, and I'd barely turned to face her before she'd caught me in the same hug.

.

Mother had the same, sad smile on her face all throughout dinner as she watched me and my father eat. We both tore into our food ravenously, though I managed to restrain myself a bit better than him.

"How long has it been since you've eaten?" Mother asked. I'd been back in the palace for less than an hour and had thought that eating before leaving would be the most sensible choice. Still, that didn't stop me from wanting to hurry.

"I've had food with me, honestly, I'm fine." I wasn't fine. "I just haven't eaten for a few hours and I was moving everywhere on foot,"

"And where have you been, exactly?" Father said, finally slowing down with his food. I felt my face turn white and my lips pull down involuntarily, uncomfortably.

What was I supposed to say, _I stole a magic sword that had been sealed down in the crypts, had the spirit inside escort me to various areas of Hyrule that were, unbeknownst to my family, crawling with dark magic, did unspeakable things with said sword spirit and then completely_ abandoned _my mission to run off and sulk?_

"I was figuring out how to get into the Ancient Woods," I said casually, and tried to mask my expression by lowering my head and staring intently at my dish. I felt my parents stare at me, and then turn to each other.

"Link, darling," my mother said, "that's what your father and I have been doing, safely, back here. You shouldn't have risked your life in vain like you did."

My hands clenched into fists as I tried to control my tone. I was angry and frightened but also _excited_ , because we were so close. I _had_ to sell this to them.

"It wasn't in vain." I said. No reaction from either of them. "There's a spell, it lets you travel into the Woods safely, no risk of you losing your mind." That was basically the truth...

My father looked up at that, interested. "What's the spell?"

I fidgeted in my seat. "It's complicated," I said, and couldn't help but avert my eyes. "It's taken me this whole week to complete it, but it's been cast now, and I was just about to enter the Woods when your guards found me." I tried to keep the accusing tone out of my voice but I think he picked up on it, because his eyes narrowed.

"You can't go in there unattended. You're the Prince of this kingdom,"

"And your daughter is the Princess, she's just as important." I snapped back quickly, which made my father stand up suddenly.

"We are not having this argument again, Link. I won't lose both of you."

"You're not _going_ to, if you'd just let me go-"

My mother bolted to her feet and glared at us both. My father, although he looked furious, stopped whatever was about to come out of his mouth. I let myself calm slightly as well, looking apologetically to her, before pushing away from the table and charging out.

 **.**

 **I GOT EXCITED and wrote a bunch of things for these later chapters a while back and now I keep wanting to add more to them and,,,, it miiighhttt end up being more than three chapters after this.**

 **But the way I've got it sectioned up, I'm hoping it'll just be three longer-than-usual chapters**


	22. Chapter 22

**Guess who's late, _again_. Sorry! New term's just started and it's a nightmare... But next chapter should be up at the weekend as usual:3**

 **Also, WHO IS FRICKIN _HYPED_ FOR BREATH OF THE WILD IN MARCH?**

 **(AND it comes out/I get it the day after my birthday, I feel blessed!)**

 **.**

Thanks to the palace staff and my father's orders, I was trapped in my room until he came to visit me later that evening. He shut the door behind him quietly, looking pained and tentative. I could tell he didn't want to argue with me again, but I couldn't promise anything as he stepped in.

"There's going to be a fete tomorrow," he said in a conversational tone. I sat on the edge of my bed and scowled at him. Was this really what he'd come to talk about? "Your mother and I will be attending, and we'd like it if you were there too."

I met his eyes. They were hard. I knew this wasn't a request.

"Zelda's out there and you want me to go to a jousting match?" I spat, and I saw my father's cheeks pink slightly. He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly before speaking again.

"Link," Father said, and stepped closer. His stance told me that he was trying to be reasonable and not lose his temper, was trying to stay on my good side, but that wouldn't be possible under these circumstances. As he looked at me again I could see his expression was a warning one, though his eyes were panicked. "Rumours have spread."

And why should I care? It wasn't like gossip could hurt me any more than I already was. My father continued despite my answering glare.

"If you don't do this, and _show_ the people you are here, and alive, then everyone will believe you're missing, and our kingdom will be susceptible to attack."

My eyes widened and my father seemed to become slightly calmer as he saw I understood. He took a step back and slumped a little, all the fight flooding out of him.

.

The fete was as overwhelming as ever, even more so when I was dying to get away, to find a way back out of the city. I looked around at the people laughing and drinking, singing and dancing, and couldn't understand how they could do it, how my parents could plaster smiles on their faces like their daughter wasn't in danger.

I clenched my fists in my lap, the only movement that would go unnoticed while sat in my box suite next to my parents up in the viewing stalls, seemingly placed there so I could watch the jousting with ease when, in reality, it was a tactic to ensure I was seen by everyone. I looked over the rows of commoner spectators, and the Knights getting ready to fight, and the horses being geared up. If my recollection of fetes was correct, then the horses would be escorted home last of all after the celebrations were over and the crowds had cleared.

Then, I could make my move.

Grabbing a sword would be easy as well, since a lot of the armoury's contents had been moved into the town square for the day. I'd just have to wait until people cleared off, get on a horse and ride. I wouldn't need to stop. I wouldn't need anyone to get involved this time. I could go straight to Zelda.

Fate, however, seemed to have a different plan, as I ended up watching the swords and other weaponry get taken away without an opening to sneak one away. At least, that's what I kept telling myself. I kept spotting unattended swords but they'd look wrong somehow, like their balance might be off, or their blades too long. I set the nagging voice in my head on fire after it kept insisting that I was just making excuses for something else.

My father was milling about the square talking to various tradespeople and priests, but it would still be too risky for me to just leave my seat at this point, so I waited.

I waited, and waited, until it was just my family (or three quarters of it) and the palace staff, come to escort us back and to return the horses to the palace stables. Now was my last chance.

I walked up, as casually as I could, to one of the horses - a beautiful dark thoroughbred with a light mane. I knew her name was Epona, as I'd ridden her before. I also knew that she was reliably fast.

"It's been an exciting day, wouldn't you agree, Your Highness?" The stable hand said, and I smiled at them and nodded. I patted Epona and she nickered in reply. Her eyes seemed wary, like she could sense I was about to do something sudden.

"Link, are you coming?" My mother called over to me, and I saw my father turn to look at me as well. This was it, my last chance.

I hooked my hands over Epona's back and hoisted myself quickly up, mounting her. The horse whinnied and backed up a few steps, knocking the stable hand over.

"LINK!" My father shouted, and I looked over my shoulder to see him running towards me. I scrabbled around for the reigns.

"I'm sorry!" I called back to the stable hand (and my parents), and jabbed my heels into Epona's sides. She whinnied again and took off, making me hold on for dear life as she sped through the city. I couldn't hear my parents shouting anymore, but that could have been for any number of reasons: the wind rushing past my ears, the thunderous sound of blood pounding through my head, or simply that we were already too far away. Epona was fast and agile, swerving round corners like a snake in water, and although it was a challenge to stay on top of her, I was immensely grateful to her as we tore across the Eastern Bridge and into Hyrule field.

We had to keep riding fast for a while, in case the castle's guards or, goddesses forbid, my father came after me. It was a smoother journey out in the open though, which allowed me some headspace to consider my options. I had no shield, no medicine, and no sword. The sword was the most important thing, and stealing one wasn't an option. I could trade Epona in for one, but what sort of blacksmith would want a horse?

 _And besides_ , I thought as I looked down at my steed, who hadn't complained at all as we sped away from the city, _I owe her._

So, getting rid of Epona was against the rules, and I had nothing else to give for a sword.

Apart from my pride.

My heart twisted and jumped into my throat as I finally allowed myself to think about it. Could I really go back to him, after he'd told me all those things? After I'd left in the manner that I had?

I noticed the sky was turning lilac, and was getting darker ahead of me. I chewed on my lip. On one hand, he had told me (supposedly) all of his plan, which meant he was being honest with me.

 _And that he cares about you_ , a voice somewhere in my head said. I growled and shook my head, trying to discourage it.

 _On the other hand_ , I argued, _he'd kept this plan a secret for basically as long as I've known him._

I realised the dark sky was more to my left now, and that the trees were thinning out, and looked greener. I couldn't feel the dark energy emanating from them anymore, which meant I'd passed the Ancient Woods' border and was nearing the forest where the third trial's temple lay. _When had I turned South?_

After a lot of slowing down, speeding up and turning in all sorts of directions (and Epona almost throwing me off for being so fickle), I supposed that I didn't really have a choice. I headed towards where I remembered the temple being, in the smaller, less dense forest further south. It didn't take too long to find on horseback, especially when there was a trail of rubble to follow. My heart beat flickered in relief as I was reassured that Ghirahim had won the fight with the golem, not that I'd doubted he would when I left.

I got down from Epona and looked up at the structure. It didn't look grand or beautiful, just elaborately decorated and intimidating - a dark slab of stone against the bright greens and yellows of the forest. I couldn't understand how this had been a place of homage, how people had looked to a creature so evil and wanted to praise his existence.

"I didn't think he was worthy of worship, either." A voice said, clear, crisp and in very close proximity to me, which made me jump, turning to see that Ghirahim was sat in a tree, about two metres off the ground. He looked like he'd been there for a while, like he'd given up.

I wanted to say something, I wanted to ask if everything he'd told me was true, I wanted to climb up into the tree with him and stay there, become entangled with him as part of the forest and not have to worry about the consequences. Instead - and with great effort - I dragged my eyes away from him and walked towards the temple. I heard Ghirahim jump down behind me.

"Link," he tried, but I kept walking until I reached the doors. I pushed them open as quickly as possible and saw the sword, his sword, lying on the stony floor. Picking it up, I turned around and he was there, right in front of me. I sighed to try and push out the fog in my chest.

"Get in the sword or wait until its bond drags you with me," I forced out, and tried to maneuver around him, but Ghirahim grabbed my shoulders.

"Don't talk to me like that, Link." He said firmly, but not aggressively, and it took me off guard. I blinked up at him. Ghirahim sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "So I'm practically a demon to you now? Just a soulless sword spirit?"

The hurt in his voice was clear and the fog in my chest got thicker, heavier. It made my vision wobble.

"No," I said.

"But you're going to refuse to talk to me?" Ghirahim said, frustration growing in his tone. "You're going to use my sword and then forget this ever happened, is that it-"

"That's exactly how you made me feel!" I shouted, vision blurring. I resisted blinking, or the tears would spill. "You can't blame me for this, _you're_ the one who plotted to use _me_." I swallowed, and walked back out the temple door. My throat burned from me refusing to cross the threshold of my emotions and give into them, but it was worth it when I finally let myself blink and the tears had gone.

Ghirahim teleported in front of me, which forced me to stop.

"Link, it was a half-hearted decision I made when I barely knew you and I was angry, and even though I can't take it back, you need to understand that I don't want that anymore."

I couldn't look at him, embarrassment flooding my face and painting my cheeks, so I looked to the forest beside me.

"You don't want to be free?" I said, and laughed sarcastically. I didn't understand why he was lying to me after all this. It just added insult to injury.

"I won't ever be free until you understand." Ghirahim said next to me, suddenly very close, and it made me jump again. I glowered up at him, but he continued. "I've lived this long so I could meet you. I think the gods have given me a chance to redeem myself."

The fog in my chest span into a twister, warped, thinned out then thickened. I felt confused.

"So now you just need me for redemption? Nothing personal is fine," I said dismissively, trying to turn away, but Ghirahim grabbed my arms.

"I'm not being driven by an _obligation_ , Link." He said, sounding frustrated, but then his grip became softer and his voice mirrored it. "I just want to be with you."

As he said it, the fog boiled and evaporated in my chest. My heart stopped. He seemed to be prompted to keep going by whatever look was on my face in that moment, either encouraged to continue or desperate to fix a slip-up. "We're tied together by something, gift or curse - whatever you see it as, it's gotten us this far. And I want to see you get past this," his hands somewhat tentatively slid up to hold me by the shoulders as his eyes bore into mine. I remained frozen in place. He seemed to collect himself slightly, possibly debating whether to say it before he finished with, "it would be a great honour if I could be your partner, just to help, until this ordeal is over."

I finally realised I was gaping slightly, but I didn't care enough to compose myself. My chest felt tight and like it was about to explode at the same time, I'd barely even noticed that my hands had locked around his wrists, one still awkwardly holding the binding sword, and now I wasn't letting him go even if he'd wanted to. My voice kept catching in my throat as I pushed to say what was in my head, until it eventually came out as a loud, half-sob.

"I'm so sorry I put you through this," I finally managed, the sound shocking me enough that my legs gave way underneath me and I sank to the ground. Ghirahim fell with me and pulled me into his chest. I clung to him like he was my only anchor to sanity, which probably wasn't far from the truth by now. I thought of my family and how I must have broken my parents' hearts by leaving twice, how Zelda could have been counting on me days ago and might not be alive to do so anymore. I'd been so selfish with trying to escape through Ghirahim in the first place, and had made everything so _damn confusing_ in the process. While I'd wasted time arguing and deciphering my own feelings, Zelda could have been taking her last breath, and everything that everyone had done to protect or aid me could all have been in vain.

Now all I could do was hold onto my anchor and grovel, and hope that he might see how sorry I was.

Ghirahim's words had completely torn down all the defences I'd half-heartedly put up, and I was a wreck. I couldn't stop his hand gripping my chin and tilting my face up, I didn't have any strength for this brief moment. I looked back at him with wide eyes, stupidly vulnerable-looking as he leaned in close. All I could do was hide them, shut them, as his lips were gently pressed to mine.

My damned body responded instantly, already eager to escape reality again inside his flawless skin and silken hair as I kissed him back, intensity growing as I dropped the sword to free my fingers entirely, which curled around the fabric of his clothes. I didn't understand why my heart had to react so violently, so excitedly, like this brief fling was something deeper, but that didn't make me stop myself.

Ghirahim sighed and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me in close, and my train of thought suddenly slipped away. I found that I couldn't care about anything anymore. Just for now (which was a blatant lie), I would let myself believe everything he said and bend to it all, because it was impossible not to in this state. Ghirahim moved a hand to my back and guided me backwards, hurriedly but gently lowering me onto my back until I was pressed snugly between him and the forest floor, and I felt my knuckles go white from how tight I was holding onto him.

There was a snort from behind us, and I opened my eyes to realise that Epona was still here as well. I flushed, apparently embarrassed by everything now, as Ghirahim slowly pried himself away from me.

"I... brought a friend." I said dumbly up at him, not sure what else to say.

"I was aware," Ghirahim said, looking Epona over. "It appears we both forgot."

I laughed lightly, feeling liberated from the cocktail of emotions that I'd just thrown up. I looked back at Ghirahim as he took my hands and pulled me up to stand in front of him. He'd been so hard to read before, but right now I could see excitement and relief and sheer terror behind in his eyes, and his lips were pulled up in a smile.

I could have asked why he was smiling when I'd just broken down, or why he was happy that I'd accepted him when this entire mess had been my fault in the first place, but I knew that the words in his head were most-likely the same ones in my own that I was trying to ignore right at this moment. Not that _that_ stopped my hand tightening around his. I half hoped he wouldn't notice.

"No time to lose," I said.

 **.**

 **I've been sort of rewriting these last chapters recently so I can't say for sure, but the next chapter might be the penultimate one. EEEE!**


	23. Chapter 23

**AND BREATH OF THE WILD CRAWLS CLOSER**

 **38 sleeps** **to go *** _ **screams incoherently**_ *****

 **Where is it on the timeline? I'm SO confused by the sea salt found in the demo**

 **Also what are the flowers? (TS is intrigued)**

 **On a more relevant note, I'd like to thank you guys again for leaving reviews. ILYSM! I read every one and it's really great to see how you each have your own thoughts and feelings about everything that's happening - I just think that's amazing, like how many differing opinions are coming out of this, something I made**

 **I really hope the ending can do my gratitude justice!**

 **.**

It didn't take long for us to reach the right entrance into The Ancient Woods - the point that Ghirahim said he could feel the demonic presence strongest. It was something that I couldn't understand until we were right on the edge of the woods - there was a subtle shift in the air and the smell of the place that I wouldn't have been able to recognise on my own without years of practice and exposure to dark magic. Epona seemed jittery as we neared the border, and the trees were so thick anyway that I knew she wouldn't get through quickly enough, so I let her stay out in the open.

"I hope we find my sister before the guards find my horse or they could get themselves killed," I said, dismounting. The sky was dark by now, so I hoped that would be enough for them to not find her.

Ghirahim conjured a ball of golden light into his hand, like he'd done to show off when we'd first met.

"This won't drain my power, and it'll help you navigate through the forest." He explained.

"Thanks," I said, and led the way. Now accustomed to dark magic, I didn't feel quite so unnerved as we walked through the forest, but I still wasn't as used to it as Ghirahim was, and the deep, moving shadows cast by his light were more than enough to keep me on edge.

"Why are there no monsters in the forest?" I asked after a while, not sure why we hadn't encountered a golem or any other sort of monster when we had felt such a strong omnipresence while _outside_ the forest. I looked to Ghirahim, who seemed almost as puzzled as me.

"I'm not sure," he said. "It could simply be because this demon only conjures up what he needs, possibly, and creating hordes of creatures to roam about the forest would be pointless if-"

The tree stump in front of us cracked audibly, breaking the silent ambience of the forest. We both stopped and watched as the stump grew in height and broke into segments - arms, legs, body - until a ten-foot-tall monster was standing in the space ahead. It shook what seemed to be its head, and two glowing red eyes appeared there.

"That's a wood golem." I said.

"I know," Ghirahim replied tensely. "Do you think it's the one that took your sister?"

"Could be," I readied my sword and looked to Ghirahim.

"You know I have to leave," he said quickly, and I nodded. He looked worried.

"I'll be fine. This is a good sword," I added, and sent him a wicked grin as I felt adrenaline course through me. Ghirahim smiled tentatively back at me, before fading into the sword, and everything went dark.

" _Be careful_ ," his voice sounded inside my head, and I nodded. The golem was still standing, not moving, just looking down at me; all I could see in the dark were the faint outlines of trees and the monster, and the red of its eyes. I stepped forward and its gaze followed me. As I got closer it groaned - old, dead wood straining to be flexible.

It stepped forward with one massive foot, and bent down towards me. Its arm snapped and creaked as it reached out to grab me, and I stumbled a little over the uneven ground to get away in time.

The golem laughed, a sound like wood being sawed up, and stepped forward to try and catch me again.

I'd never been fast, but years of dancing and forced grace had left me with good agility and balance and, coupled with my preparedness for entering these woods, was enough to allow me to duck under the golem's hands unscathed. To my luck, its gnarled legs had the right footholds for me to climb up them with moderate ease and cling to its back before I was caught. The golem roared at that, trying to swivel this way and that to see me, but to no avail. Each movement threw my body away from him and my hands were the only things to keep me there. I immediately regretted and wondered _why_ I'd even done this, my mind working almost automatically in the heat of the moment, but it seemed to have led me in the right direction as the golem wobbled and slammed into a nearby tree, which was large and sturdy and hard. The monster fell to its knees, stunned, and that's when I noticed how the vines at the back of its neck thinned out, how brittle the wood underneath them looked.

Shifting quickly to stand on its shoulders and holding my sword in two hands now, I threw myself forward into the motion as I swung the blade at the back of the golem's neck.

There was a satisfying _chunk_ sound from the wood as it split under my hit, and me jumping down as I'd done it resulted in the golem falling forwards, bawling in pain, chest and face hitting the ground with a thud. I landed on my feet at about the same time and hastily turned back to my target, swinging the sword over my head again to hack at the golem's neck. It took just two blows to completely shatter the old wood and separate the head entirely, something I barely got to see before the golem had exploded into a cloud of dark purple smoke.

When the cloud cleared, disappearing into the air like steam, the golem was gone.

I felt my sword flash in my hand. "Did you just use my sword as a woodcutter's axe?" Ghirahim said behind me. He sounded slightly disgusted, but I could hear the amused undertone.

I turned around to face him. He was stood a few feet away, hands on his hips and a look on his face that could have been outrage or " _I'm trying not to laugh, did you_ really _just do that_ ".

"…Sorry," I said, now slightly chagrined. There was a beat of silence before Ghirahim laughed.

"Don't be," he said, striding up towards me. I watched him and the confident smile that was back on his face, just like when I'd first met him – mischievous and assured and charming. The only difference from before was that now it didn't feel like a front, it felt like I was included in the feelings behind that smile, and that made me smile back up at him. "I'm more eager to be rid of that gloomy old thing the further we go."

Something told me that Ghirahim was less worried about me than before. I noted the tinge of pride in his voice and supposed that encountering the golem had been _the_ thing to reassure him that I could handle myself. He'd seemed reluctant to leave me on my own since I'd explained to him, on the way here, why I'd disappeared for a day after running off at the last trial, not that I was likely to be kidnapped by Hyrule's guards in here.

Ghirahim took my hand and squeezed it, before pulling it away from me to point in a certain direction. He bent so that he was at eye-level with me, his cheek pressed against mine.

"Do you see how the woods seem to get ever-so-slightly lighter up ahead that way?"

I squinted and focused my eyes. I'd managed to adjust to the darkness as I fought the golem, but the trees over there did seem to be just a bit clearer to make out.

"Yeah," I said, and I could feel the determined anticipation pumping into my chest instead of blood, coursing throughout my body. Zelda was there. She was so close.

I turned back to Ghirahim, but he was gone, just as my sword flashed in my hand again. I sighed. _Did he do that sometimes just to be mysterious and dramatic?_

Still, I went on without a light or Ghirahim walking with me anymore, prepared with the sword to take on any other monsters I may encounter, but strangely, the golem had seemed to be the only one. It made an uneasy feeling settle in my chest as I wondered why, why did there only need to be one monster to block my path? Was the demon in the midst of these woods so powerful that it didn't feel the need for more defences? And what did that mean for Zelda, if the one creature created had been made solely to bring her here? I thought back to the story that Ghirahim had told me about my ancestors, about how a demon had absorbed a girl's spirit in order to gain a more powerful form. I found myself moving quicker, more desperately.

It took me a while to realise that the trees were beginning to thin out, I was tripping less in the dark and didn't have to weave through branches as frequently, until, about a few feet ahead of me, they seemed to disappear completely. As I reached the edge of the copse I realised why. I stopped between two trunks on the edge of the clearing before me, the ground was completely riddled with great tree roots that wove themselves through the earth, stitched there over centuries of growth. I felt the now familiar shift in air pressure that alerted me to Ghirahim's arrival, who had come out of his sword to stand beside me.

"I've seen only one of these before," he breathed, still tense like me from the atmosphere but clearly fascinated by the scene before us. "They're guardian trees; whole ecosystems on their own that support and protect the forests that surround them. They can get even bigger than this..."

The roots all led to the same point: a gargantuan tree in the centre, so tall and dark that I couldn't understand how it couldn't be seen from outside the forest itself. Its branches blocked out the dark sky as much as the thickness of the trees did, and its trunk was probably the size of one of Hyrule Castle's towers. And, being held in a hole of the trunk, standing out clearly in her vibrant ball gown against the dark wood...

"Zelda!" I gasped, and quickly ran through the empty clearing towards the tree, only half cautious as I focused on my sister. I knew that Ghirahim would warn me or help if something jumped out behind me, so I wasted no time in half-climbing up to the hole at the base of the trunk and ripping away the prison bar-like roots that had grown over the opening, and lifting Zelda out. Her eyes opened slightly as my arms curled around her.

"Link...?" She said, so quietly that I wouldn't have heard her if I hadn't been listening. I felt my chest bubble up with emotion and I pulled her close as I lifted her out and away from the tree, temporarily unable to speak.

I quickly rested her back down on solid ground once I'd managed to move her a short distance away, and I knelt down to examine her face. Her eyes were fighting to stay open, sometimes losing focus on me entirely to wobble in some random direction. She reached out a hand towards my face and I leaned into her touch.

"I'm here, I'm here. You're going to be okay." I said, trying to keep my voice from breaking as my hand came up to squeeze hers and I realised how feeble her grip was. She was so weak...

But she was alive. I'd found her in time.

"Ah, yes..." A deep voice hissed, reminiscent of wind blowing through trees with an undertone of large, creaking branches. I startled and looked up, only to see nobody else around. "The Prince has arrived, and he's standing on his own two feet."

I immediately hugged Zelda to my chest protectively, who's eyes had fallen shut. I could feel her energy like winter sunshine against my body, weak but warm and wonderful and I couldn't let it go out. I heard Ghirahim catch up behind me and halt, guarding me from who (or what) ever the voice was coming from as I knelt on the ground with my sister.

"Oh? Now this is interesting," the voice said again, and I could hear a smile in it - not well meaning or kind in any way. I looked around myself to place its owner but the sound seemed to be coming from all around me, amplified by the forest. "He's brought a servant."

"Link," Ghirahim said, placing a hand on my shoulder, and I looked up to see him point to the great tree. A deep purple, almost black aura was quickly expanding across its bark, the branches swaying wildly. Two knots at the same height up the trunk moved, twisting until they resembled a face along with the large hole - two frowning eyes and a gaping mouth. The hole suddenly closed itself up, like a mouth snapping shut, and curled into a wicked smile.

I was pushed by something hard at the same time that I heard Ghirahim yell behind me in surprise. I was knocked onto my side and only just managed to cushion Zelda's fall before I was being dragged up by my wrists. I heard Ghirahim's voice get further away from me, but all I could see were the tree roots that had become animated to curl around my arms and legs, pulling me to hold me upside-down like a prisoner ready for torture. I felt all the blood rush to my head and my stomach churned as I looked down towards my feet and saw the sky. I tilted my head up to look back at the ground, completely disoriented and searching desperately for Zelda. She lay motionless on the ground.

"I was hoping to attract more heavenly power than this," the tree said as another root came out of nowhere to poke at my chest. I tried my best not to wince as the pain from the unexpected impact hit me. "Whatever have you gone and done to yourself, boy? You're tainted!"

"He's of no use to you," Ghirahim bit out, and I looked over to him. He was struggling a great deal against his own bindings, his arms and legs being stretched as far as they would go, although at least he was the right way up. I hoped against hope that he would be able to escape from his binds with ease, but I suspected that whatever the tree was doing was stopping Ghirahim from returning to my sword. Still, that didn't stop the fierce sheen in his eyes. "Let him go." He said darkly, and I felt a poorly-timed pang of affection stir in my chest at his protective tone.

"He's got dark magic running through him," the tree said to itself in a fascinated tone, ignoring Ghirahim completely. The tree roots binding my wrists lifted me until I was turned right-side-up, now hanging from my wrists instead of my feet. The eyes of the tree looked at me with a keen interest, and I felt like it was seeing through my clothes. The thought made me even more uncomfortable. "The power of light... That mysterious power is said to flow in the veins of every royal in your family, boy. Ever since the day when it was gifted to your people." It paused to pull me closer to his 'face', still eyeing me up. "And you've thrown it all away."

The grin on its face was menacing, but I felt more creeped out at the fact that my heritage seemed to be common knowledge to everyone except me. I looked back down at Zelda, who still seemed to be unconscious – and untouched – on the forest floor. I glared back at the tree.

"Why are you bothering to tell me this?" I snapped. The tree shifted and creaked. The long, loud sound made me register just how immense this thing was.

"You've let me down, boy," it said, the grin vanishing from its face. "I was really looking forward to absorbing both you and your sister simultaneously. One large meal is better than two small, wouldn't you agree?" Its face was dark and threatening now. I didn't say anything and just stared back at him, refusing to back down.

"Or one small," it said. I felt the roots holding me lift me up slightly higher, before suddenly slamming me onto the ground harshly, knocking the wind out of my chest. "You've wasted my time, child of Hylia."

I gasped in pain and desperation to get my breath back, and my eyes were watering, but my head was still clear. I realised why Zelda had been kept alive until now. Everything had been waiting on me.

The tree'd been keeping Zelda alive in order to absorb her energy later (or now, since I'd just arrived). But that meant she was going to be fine.

I had to keep telling myself that.

The sword was close enough for me to reach if I moved fast enough, and if I could get a little farther then, if that large root leading to the middle of the tree's base was anything to go by, I could reach something important.

I didn't delay. I sprang to my feet and was already at the sword in a matter of seconds. I heard the tree yell and I knew it'd be distracted.

"Ghirahim!" I called, not even finishing turning to look at him before I already felt him back in the sword. The roots holding him had already dropped him to go after me, and as I turned back to the tree immediately I glared up into its eyes, before plunging the sword, now glowing, into the main root.

The tree screamed and the loose roots that had been holding Ghirahim and I writhed like the legs of a distressed skulltulla on its back. That seemed to be the right thing to do, but as I surveyed the reaction about the clearing I spotted Zelda in the midst of it all, vulnerable.

I ran to her, scooping her up quickly and getting her into the woods and away from the Great Tree. Zelda opened her eyes and looked at me fearfully. My pounding heart twisted.

"It's going to be okay," I said as I set her down, ready to go back and finish the monstrosity in the clearing. "Stay here-

"Stop!" Zelda said, panicked, grabbing my arm as I began to move away. "You'll kill the tree!"

 _That's the point,_ I thought, my eyes still tracking the snakelike roots around us. "Zelda, this tree-"

"The demon inside took it over from a light spirit!" She gasped, like the words were taking the life out of her. "If you kill the tree then darkness will truly fall over the forest."

Ghirahim's sword flashed in my hand and I looked down, only to be greeted by - for the third or fourth time now - a voice inside my head.

 _"I could exorcise the demon. If I absorbed enough of his energy it would kill him."_ Ghirahim said, voice echoing and not giving away much emotion. I cut away another root as it tried to strike me and, panicking, I thought over his offer.

Ghirahim could exorcise the demon, giving the light spirit back its home, but this had been Ghirahim's plan from the start, and it hadn't been with the best intentions.

 _"I'm not going to leave you,"_ Ghirahim said. I looked to Zelda, who was fighting to stay conscious, and to the trees, so old and alive but so dark - I wondered what light spirits had lived there before all this had come to be. I looked to my sword, and clenched my teeth.

I chanced one last look at Zelda that I hoped told her I was going to do my best, before whipping back around and running into the clearing, dodging roots left and right.

The main root was the largest and one of the ones that I could see led directly up into the trunk, so that was my target, but I could feel my footing get more unsteady the more I had to lunge this way and that to avoid getting strangled or crushed. I swerved a touch too slowly to avoid a root sliding along the ground and it caught my foot, tripping me and pulling me to the ground. I scrabbled with the sword in my hands, turning around to aim at the root around my ankle. My leg burned from the pulling and my skin stung from all the cuts and scrapes over it, my chest and sides were bruised and I was only just becoming conscious of how _gods damned much_ my wrists hurt, all of which made me nearly draw blood as I bit down on my lip to push past it all. I swung, cutting the tip of the root off and freeing my ankle in one clean motion.

The rest of the root wriggled aimlessly for a moment like some grotesque, blackened worm, buying me just enough time to scramble up. I decided there was too much risk approaching the tree further, and Ghirahim hadn't exactly told me to aim for that root, so, throwing myself into the movement, I plunged the sword into another large root at my feet. As the tree roared in pain, the hilt glowed gold and everything seemed to freeze.

Suddenly Ghirahim was in front of me, a grateful-looking smile on his face, and as he met my eyes I couldn't help but smile back at him.

"I'll always be yours, Link." He reassured me, and I felt my heart skip. Before I could retort with anything, he'd already spun on his heel to saunter up to the still-frozen tree, who was quickly regaining lucidity. I watched as the eyes of the tree came to focus on my sword spirit, and they widened as he stretched out a hand, glowing with gold light, in front of its face.

The scream that came forth from the mouth of the tree was unlike anything I'd ever heard in my life. It shook the ground and the inside of my head, made me want to jump three feet in the air to get away and curl into myself at the same time. It was impossibly deep and unbearably high and insanely, incomparably loud, and Ghirahim was the one causing it.

I looked over at him as my eyes begged to stay shut for my own protection, my vision shaking in protest, but they still managed to widen in terror as I saw what was happening. The tree was pouring out smoke from every crevice, thick and dark and purple, heavy like fog as it spilled onto the ground around them. It quickly spread until Ghirahim had disappeared into it too, still motionless in front of the great tree, only holding a single hand up towards it.

The screaming started getting higher as more smoke poured out, but it also became more bearable as the sound stopped coming from all around, and only from the tree itself. I realised at that point that the smoke had stopped pouring out, and was now moving inwards, like the person in the middle of it all was _breathing it in,_ in one long, deep breath.

It was his arms I saw first; stretched out on either side of him with his fingers curling inwards like claws, twitching like he was fighting to not clench them into fists. His skin was as dark as night, iridescent and shining like black opal or pearl, and branded with blindingly white diamonds that lay in clusters all over his body. As the smoke cleared completely I saw that his clothes were gone too, just like in the third trial - naked and baring what he was for the world to see.

The demon in the tree was gone. Ghirahim turned his head towards me and my mouth went dry.

 **.**

 **EHEM, YO, so as I was writing this chapter, my phone crashed (where I store all my writing like an idiot, and I do mean** _ **all**_ **my fictional writing), so all my files for Bound and Work in Progress, as well as other fics I was planning to bring out soon, have all been erased. No way of recovering them.**

 **I can promise that the next and final chapter of Downward Sword will still be on schedule, but the next chapter of anything else might take a while to publish, because I'm going to be trying to remember details that I wrote down weeks/months ago for some fics and painstakingly try to write them again. It's not going to be fun to write parts of my stories anymore because of this, just exhausting, which makes me really sad. Hopefully I'll be enlightened or something and will completely shift the path I'm on with my stories and write something way newer and better, but for now please just hope with me;-;**

 **I'm so heartbroken, there were entire novels worth of writing in these files and it's all my fault**

 **.**

 **NEXT CHAPTER IS THE LAST CHAPTER, and I'm going to try and post a new chapter of Bound next weekend as well, depending on how far I can drive myself to rewrite everything.**

 **(And just to make it clear, the only reason I'm complaining about writing is because I'd liked what I'd written initially and that's been erased. I do actually love writing these stories and it makes it** ** _so_** **worth while just to read the comments or see that a new person has followed or favourited. You guys have been the ones to remind me that** ** _"hey, you should post something this week. It makes you and other people happy, that's killing two birds with one stone!"_** **And I can't thank you all enough for that! *weeps, throws flowers at you*)**


	24. Chapter 24

**I Am. So. Hyped.**

 **BreathoftheWild'slessthanfiveweeksaway**

 ***Soup, please shut up***

 **LAST CHAPTER ASDFGHJKL, CANNOT MAKE WORDS**

 **.**

The demon was nowhere to be seen, the tree now dormant, but my focus was on Ghirahim as he turned back.

I saw that his eyes were glazed over with white as he took one step and spun, pivoting on his foot to face me completely. He glanced down at himself, arms still spread, now in a sort of "look at me" pose that was unnerving when coupled with the expression on his face. His eyes were vacant, like they were looking past everything around him towards something that only he could see. Then his head suddenly turned towards me fully and he seemed to register me, though I couldn't be entirely sure when his pupils were replaced by white. A slow, menacing grin spread across his features as he started towards me, and all I could do was become tense, unsure what to do.

" _My_ _Prince_ ," he purred, in a voice that was far too slick and unnatural to be his own, not the Ghirahim I knew, and in the split second it took me to blink he was already at my side, making me jump. He laughed, dark and unhinged, and took my chin between his finger and thumb to turn my face towards him. He gasped in an almost delighted way as he ran a sharply-tipped finger down my cheek, lips pulling back with his smile to reveal prominent fangs where human canines were supposed to be, and I felt my skin puncture. I tried to yank myself away but the finger on my cheek suddenly turned into a hand around my throat, and his grin became darker as I gasped and clawed at his hand involuntarily.

" _Your spirit is so... striking,_ " he said breathily, face getting closer to mine with every second. His eyes were an uncomfortably bright, blinding, white that dug itself into my eyes no matter where I looked, and I felt them begin to smart as I was forced to keep facing him.

I willed myself to look him in the eye, for as long as I could. Tears began to stream down my face immediately from the overexposure but I had to try and reach him.

"You said that you were going to do this to be free," I said, sucking air through my teeth in a wince, unable to breathe properly. I tried to fight the pain that was wracking my head but it eventually forced my eyes shut. I felt them still smarting behind my eyelids, tears escaping to surge down my face as my lungs began to scream for air. I barely managed to choke out my next words, "you're not doing this to kill me, or take over the world," I wheezed, "you want to be _free_."

I kept fighting for air, unable to speak anymore as my brain lost focus and the painful sensations all across my skin numbed, and I put all my concentration into surviving. I didn't realise that it was slowly becoming easier to draw breath until I was dropped completely, the shock combining with my sudden weakness to force me to my knees as I hit the ground. I spluttered, drawing in air mindlessly like a parched fish before anything else, finally reminding myself to look back up at the man who had just dropped me. Ghirahim's eyes were unseeing again, lips parted and shock plastered over his face like he was trying to comprehend something unfathomable.

"Ghirahim?" I tried, not sure at all how he'd react to his name. He didn't. I saw purple in the corner of my eye and looked over to Zelda, now torn between protecting her and stopping Ghirahim. I didn't know how to do either.

" _Petulant brat..._ " Ghirahim growled above me, and I looked back to him. He wasn't looking at me, but he seemed furious. _"I've waited my whole existence for this! This is my moment!_ " He was looking away, out at the trees in a random direction, as far as I could tell. The light escaping his eyes could only make it out in slits now as he squinted like he was in pain, before he shut his eyes entirely. When he opened them again they'd changed back to brown, wide and soft and seeing. They found me and I stared back at him. He looked strange with his metallic body and human eyes, but something told me that he'd been reached. I dared to smile at him, and he just looked down at his hands before meeting my eyes again.

"Link?" He said, confused. There was no way of telling how much he remembered from what had just happened. As I reached out a hand to him he took my cue, though, pulling me up without hesitation. His hand was hard and cold and felt strange as it wrapped around my wrist, but I was grateful that he was helping me up rather than trying to kill me. "I'm- this is..." he broke off, wincing as he clasped his hands against the sides of his head. I stepped back cautiously, watching his eyes as they began to give off the same white light from moments before. He met my gaze and lowered his hands, seeming to be fighting off the pain as he stood straight and the light faded again. The fear that had settled there didn't leave, however.

"You need to leave." He said. My eyes widened.

"No,"

"Don't argue," he stressed through gritted teeth, and I couldn't tell whether or not he was trying to come across as threatening. He was, regardless. "This demon is still conscious inside of me, and if I lose control for merely a moment while you're unarmed-"

"Not going to happen." I made myself interrupt him, putting every ounce of confidence that I had into my words. I looked at Ghirahim and, despite what was happening, despite everything, I trusted him. I couldn't have it any other way, not when the alternative was running and probably never seeing him again. I held out my hand in a gesture I'd seen the knights do with each other, a gesture I'd made with my father before my coronation and after making countless pacts with Zelda. It was a symbol of comradery, of kinship, and I was entrusting it to him. Ghirahim regarded my outstretched arm an hesitated, but just when I thought he was going to turn away he took it, hand clasping my wrist in a firm grip.

I smiled at him again and he smiled back hesitantly, and I felt my hand involuntarily tighten around his own wrist. I didn't notice that his hand was getting tighter, too, until pain was shooting through my arm and his eyes were clouding over again. I yanked my arm away reflexively, holding my wrist in my other hand. Ghirahim seemed panicked, looking at me and then down to his hand like it was a stranger's that had appeared out of nowhere. His eyes shut again as he winced in pain, his voice forming an incomprehensible snarl before his eyes snapped open and he lunged for me. I moved back just in time, almost jumping from the shock.

"Don't you see?" He said, voice echoing the same merciless tone from before, even though his face seemed to say that he didn't want these words coming out of his mouth. The sound of his voice made my brain blur over for a moment in déjà vu, bringing up a memory that wasn't mine but at the same time seemed to belong in my head. I saw the spiralling pit from the third trial, and something about it told me that Ghirahim was reliving ancient memories as well. "It's all over!" he barked, and I was brought back to the present. "This world and everything in it now belong to darkness! They belong to my _master_!" As he stressed the final word his eyes became pure white and glowing again, and his grimace became a grin, throwing his head back to let loose an insane laugh. A strong wind broke into the clearing and coursed about in a spiral that surrounded us, bringing up leaves and sandy earth like a wall around me. I looked over to Zelda and she was where I'd left her, motionless, before the wind blocked her from my vision entirely.

I turned back to Ghirahim, gritting my teeth. "You don't have a master!" I shouted through the storm, not sure if he'd be able to hear me at all if he was reliving a memory, one which I could feel unravelling in my head as well – one of chaos and low points and being driven to the edge of who you are. I still pushed for his attention and called out to him again, "not anymore!"

That did it, Ghirahim's demonic glowing eyes targeted me with a killer's glare and he started towards me again. I ran towards the sword.

"Show a human a little mercy and next thing you know, he thinks himself your equal!" Ghirahim screamed back at me, beside himself with outrage and completely not him; he was not a broken, raging puppet if I had anything to do with it. The sword was so close, and if I just stayed near it then Ghirahim could easily miss me and damage _it_ instead. This was my last chance to break his bonds. I heard his voice behind me again just as a blast of dark purple energy flew towards me, missing and setting the roots on the ground near me ablaze with black fire. "You think I can't defeat you? You think I can't win?" He said it in a desperate tone that told me he didn't think he was winning, somehow, but as I turned to face him I tripped, my head hitting the hilt of the dark broadsword behind me, and I heard him laugh again.

Bare black feet came into my vision, making their way towards me at a savouring pace. I saw the fire around us reflected in his shining skin, and everything was revealed to be moving in slow motion as I pulled my head up to look at my assailant. Staring at his eyes felt like staring into the sun; I was seeing almost incomprehensible power whilst being blinded at the same time. Ghirahim grinned at me and my clogged mind allowed me to think the smile was kind, which in turn allowed my eyes to fall closed, unthreatened - whatever was about to happen I deserved, anyway. I wasn't ruthless and unstoppable like my ancestor, I wasn't wise like my father had wanted me to be, and thus I'd been too late, too engulfed in my own thoughts and feelings to help the people I cared about most.

I was paralyzed from pain and shock and exhaustion as I felt Ghirahim's face inches from mine, icy breath ghosting across my forehead, when I noticed he was panting. I expected him to sink his teeth into my neck and rip out my throat, or drive one of his dagger-like fingers into my heart, but his breaths just heaved in and out unnaturally. I could hear a faint echoing from his chest that sounded like wind hitting metal, that grew fainter as I felt his body move away slightly. Everything else around us had grown silent, the wind had calmed and disappeared completely.

"Not him," Ghirahim growled, and this time the voice was entirely his own. I opened my eyes just in time to see his hand shoot forwards towards me, only to grab the hilt of the sword behind me. I managed to roll out of the way in time, just as Ghirahim collapsed to his knees. He was still gripping the sword, and it registered to me that this was the first time I'd ever seen him touch it. White light was poking out between his skin and the blade's hilt like it was trying to push them apart, and I watched as the light became tainted with something, grey, like the sun shining through fog, and then deep purple like the smoke from before. It swallowed Ghirahim and the sword whole, and I scrambled away to find Zelda, safe amongst the trees, completely drained and lifeless. I didn't even stop to hope, just curled around her as protection from the heat that I felt behind me as I reached her. Instead of the screaming from earlier that I had been expecting again, all the sound from the Ancient Woods was erased, like I was being deafened by some powerful blast, but it wasn't painful at all. My eyes were closed and all I could feel was Zelda in my arms, but for a brief time everything felt as if it could be smooth, and colourless, and clean.

Colour faded back into my thoughts and sound into my ears at the same time that I noticed Zelda was breathing, deeply and steadily.

I blinked down at her. My eyes stung and felt heavy.

I heard the sound of breaking wood and the _shing_ of metal behind me, which made me whip around immediately. The entire clearing around the great tree had been filled with a thick fog – normal fog, this time – so thick that I couldn't see anything. I carefully lay Zelda back against one of the trees before rising into a defensive stance, not sure what could be waiting in there. I didn't know whether to feel more scared for myself or for Ghirahim at the fact that I couldn't see anything.

"Ghirahim?"

The clearing was silent for another beat before a gust of wind blasted right into me, pushing the fog out of the way and nearly taking my balance. I'd managed to raise my arms up to shield my eyes, and as the wind died down I peeked past, my arms dropped completely as I saw the figure ahead of me.

"I thought I sensed you over here," he said, holding a gigantic, sword-sized black machete over his shoulder like it was nothing. His eyes were brown, his white hair fell over his face impractically and his skin was beautifully, gloriously human. He smiled at me tiredly, but I could see something behind it that was almost _definitely_ a satisfied smirk.

"That sword," I breathed, eyeing it from a safe distance. Ghirahim set it down carefully on the ground, careful for it to not catch on or cut any more roots of the Great Tree.

"Someone else's prison, now." Ghirahim said, taking a small step towards me. He seemed to be waiting for an invitation. My breath caught as I looked him over, he looked exhausted and battered but his eyes were clearer than I'd ever seen them. They looked completely honest, the wariness for my reaction as clear as day behind them.

I took the next step, and the next, until I almost ran into him, locking him in a hug, not caring if it was uncomfortable. I heard the wind leave Ghirahim's chest in a soft "oof", then felt his arms wrap around my back. I felt his neck crane down to rest his head on top of mine and I savoured the feeling for a long beat, before carefully shifting so that I was looking up at him, my heart swelling with pride. My hands cupped his face but he was the one to lean down and kiss me, passionately, relievedly, and I felt my teeth clack against his slightly because I couldn't help the smile that was there. I was proud of all of us – proud of Zelda for being so strong and _staying_ strong all this time, proud of Ghirahim for overcoming something so ungodly and terrible that I honestly couldn't fully comprehend what he did, and proud of myself for making it in time, for leaving Hyrule Castle in the first place, or my sister would have never been found.

My sister. I pried myself away from Ghirahim and sent a telling glance in her direction. His hands slipped from me, gesturing for me to lead the way, and I noticed she was stirring as I walked back to her. Ghirahim stopped a few feet away, giving us space.

"Link..?" She sounded sleepy now, no longer panicked or fatigued like before, although I was sure the latter was still true. Her eyes were open and staring at me, and I was suddenly reminded of the last time I'd seen her in the Great Hall, of something she'd said to me,

" _I'll be there to back you up, promise."_

The thought broke me, and I couldn't help the laugh that escaped me. Zelda's eyes widened slightly.

"What's happened?" she said, voice hoarse from pushing to be louder than her strength would allow. I was almost laughing hysterically, now, tears spilling from my eyes without abandon and unable to be stopped. I hugged her to my chest, just so happy to know my sister was safe.

.

The tree, no longer possessed, woke a short while after Zelda had. His face and voice were the same but the way he used them were significantly different. He told us that his name was Arborok, and he thanked Ghirahim and myself for reuniting him with his forest. I held Zelda tight against my chest the entire time, who had drifted peacefully back to sleep again.

"My domain used to be entirely separate from your own, young Prince," Arborok said, a wistful expression on his wooden features, "When your kind travelled here they brought a lot of joy to the land, a lot of light. They brought the goddess with them, the essence of whom is running through the very veins of your sister and yourself as I speak." His tone was thoughtful, but his expression hardened and his tone became warning as he continued, "They also took a lot from my people, without regards for what we had given them, and where we were from. The goddesses created everything in this world, after all - we should be working together, not stealing from each other." His trunk tilted slightly like he was cocking his head to the side in thought, looking Zelda and I over. "I like to think that you and your sister will help to prevent this from happening again, for the sake of my home and my people."

I nodded. "I know Zelda would want to fix this, too," I said, looking down to check on her. The Great Tree hummed merrily.

"I must agree with you, my boy," he said. Ghirahim gasped softly and put a hand on my shoulder, making me look up.

All the trees around the edge of the clearing were blooming, the blossoms quickly turning into fruit that I had never seen before. They were golden and almost glowed in the soft light of the early morning filtering through the branches all around.

"Takes a bit of effort when I've just woken up, but this is the least I can give your sister as thanks when she did all that she could to help me while I had that _parasite_ inside of me. Please," he said, just as one of the fruits fell from above and Ghirahim only just managed to catch it in time. I looked up to see that the same fruit was on the branches of the Great Tree. "Take as much as you need."

.

"A tree of life?" I repeated, incredulous. Ghirahim had just been explaining to me what exactly the fruit's properties were as we walked back through the Ancient Woods, which were much brighter and more alive and full than before. The trees here were no longer still, they danced in the refreshing breeze that had seemingly appeared from nowhere. "You're saying that this fruit can cure any ailment? And we've walked away with _one_?"

"It's all I can carry," Ghirahim said nonchalantly, picking off the leaves from the stems. They looked a bit like head-sized peaches. The giant machete hung off his belt to keep his hands free, the tip of the blade only just grazing the forest floor as we walked. He looked ridiculous with that and the fruit bulging in his arms.

"Still, you didn't think to tell me when we were still in the _grove_ of life trees? That that _might_ have been a great discovery for my kingdom? I can't sense the tree now that the demon's not there anymore and I told Arborok that my kingdom would give him some space after this!"

Ghirahim gave me a pointed look. I raised my eyebrow challengingly.

"You don't think, if you told your kingdom that there was a grove full of life-giving fruits, that somebody would try to take advantage of that?"

I opened my mouth to retort, but he had a point. Just then Zelda stirred in my arms, waking again. Her eyelids fluttered open weakly.

"Hi," She said, offering me a small smile. I was glad that she could tell she was safe.

"How are you feeling?" I asked. She frowned, and shook her head, not even trying to speak.

"Here," Ghirahim said, taking one of the fruits and pressing it into the blade at his side until he'd sliced off a segment, handing it to Zelda. She regarded it for a moment before simply opening her mouth, as her hands were locked together between her chest and mine. I saw Ghirahim smile as he dropped the piece of fruit into her mouth. I watched her eyes shut in bliss as she chewed, and I felt a painful pang in my heart when I remembered that she probably hadn't eaten since I'd last seen her. Goddesses knew how she hadn't become completely dehydrated, either.

Zelda's eyes suddenly popped back open, much more alert than before, and flickered about until they found Ghirahim. She pulled out her hand, albeit still a little weakly, from where it had been tucked, and held it out to him for another piece wordlessly. He obliged, and chuckled as she popped the next piece into her mouth, already cutting her another one.

"I don't believe we've been introduced properly," she said as she accepted the third piece, her voice completely clear and composed now. I almost dropped her from the shock. Ghirahim hadn't been kidding about the fruits' properties, then.

"Ghirahim, your brother's sword spirit," Ghirahim said, holding out a hand. As Zelda took it he kissed her hand, and although the movement seemed to be smooth for the both of them it was awkward for me, while I was still holding her. I glowered at him. "Link speaks of you fondly. It's simply _divine_ to finally meet you, your Grace." He seemed amused as he said it, and I couldn't tell why until I picked up on the word he'd stressed, and I wanted to smack him for the pun.

" _Former_ sword spirit," I corrected him, just as I spotted the edge of the forest in the distance and my mind started to wander. When I looked back at Ghirahim he was staring at me strangely, and I added, "you're free, now. You can be whatever you want."

Ghirahim looked ahead at that, towards the opening into Hyrule field as well, and didn't say anything more. Neither did I. I felt Zelda looking between the both of us, and when she saw Epona at the edge of the woods she wriggled in my arms until I gave in and set her down. She walked easily by herself over to the horse that had waited faithfully for us, and the pair seemed happy to be reunited – I knew Zelda had liked riding her a lot back home. I watched them for a moment before turning back to where I felt eyes burning into my back, where Ghirahim was leaning against a tree. He looked me over before meeting my eyes with a serious look.

"You say I can be whatever I want," he said, answering my unspoken question about what he was thinking, "except I don't think I've ever heard of a law that lets someone become a prince without good reason."

…What?

I looked back at him frowning, having no clue what he meant. He stood up away from the tree he'd been leaning on and walked towards me. "All I want right now, Prince Link," he said, and I could tell how this sentence was going to end. He only stopped walking when his body was almost pressed against my own, and his fingers danced across my shoulders. "…Is you."

"That is the most, goddesses-damned, corny thing I have ever heard come out of someone's mouth," I said, but I couldn't stop the ear-to-ear grin that had taken over my face. I found that I couldn't quite look him in the eye as my cheeks flushed with heat, and I felt like one of the blushing damsels in the stories Zelda and I used to read as children. It felt almost like a guilty pleasure.

"And I'd forgotten that you had a foul mouth," he said, smiling and leaning down to brush a chaste kiss over my lips. I leaned in to prolong the kiss just a few seconds longer before he pulled away. The act didn't feel rushed or desperate anymore, it felt careful and savouring and… Intimate.

"Come back to Hyrule Castle." I tried. Ghirhaim blinked down at me. I didn't know if he would hear me out or if the idea would horrify him, but it was the only plan I could come up with at that moment. My eyes darted down to scope around Hyrule Field like I'd be able to find the right words on the horizon, too anxious to really meet his eyes. "What you've done for my sister and I – Hyrule is indebted to you. Sealed in that crypt or not, you've honoured yourself by doing everything you've done, I can testify to my father myself-"

"Why are you being so formal?" Ghirahim said. He sounded amused more than anything, which made my face grow hot again. "I thought it went without saying that I was going to keep following you."

The confident grin on his face was all the reassurance my insecurities needed to quieten inside my head. Ghirahim wanted to stay even after everything he'd been put through. Everything _we'd_ been through.

I sighed, and smiled back up at him, tired but genuinely ecstatic to continue this journey with him. I slumped forward so that my forehead was against his chest. I let his heart beat a few times before talking over it.

"I don't know how I'm going to explain this to my parents," I laughed. "They probably didn't even know about the sword in the crypts, let alone that I took it."

I felt Ghirahim reach behind him to where the newly-shaped sword was resting against a tree. I stepped back and regarded it. It looked so heavy and evil compared to Ghirahim's sword, which had been sleek and agile and beautiful. Although I hadn't managed to use that sword for very long, I realised I was going to miss it.

"I'm going to send this sword away, somewhere that nobody should be able to reach anymore." Ghirahim said. It was a request. I looked back into his face and didn't see a shred of doubt in his judgement. I trusted him, so I nodded.

Ghirahim raised the giant sword above his head and it dissolved into black dust that scattered into the early morning sky, like ash from the volcanoes we'd visited. It was a beautiful display that made me all the more happy to have it out of my sight.

"The demon in this sword should be sealed away unless someone summons it, now, if my memory of that spell is correct." He said. As I turned the words over in my head, I realised what that had meant for me.

"I summoned you just by touching your sword?" I said, turning to him. Ghirahim didn't seem fazed. "Ghirahim, that's really risky magic, anyone could-"

"It's somewhere that none of your people know," he said calmly, interrupting me. "I sent the sword to the farthest reaches of the Lanayru Desert. Anyway," he added, turning to me with an expression I couldn't read. "The only reason it was so easy for you to summon me is because we're already connected."

I didn't understand what he meant at first, until I remembered that my ancestor had been the one to seal him away in the first place. My blood meant that we shared the same roots, if for different reasons.

Despite how confused I still was about the previous Link's relationship with Ghirahim, how torn I was about how he'd been treated by my ancestor and the reasons for that, the thought that our history went back that far warmed my heart a little bit.

I took a step back towards Zelda, and Ghirahim moved to follow immediately. I supposed that, given this opportunity, I should make the most to create a new history with Ghirahim. One where Link and the (now former) sword spirit worked together to make Hyrule a better place, instead of clashing with each other.

I looked back to the Ancient Woods as they receded behind us. I couldn't feel the eyes on me anymore like I was being stalked, the trees looked brighter and healthier as the sun grazed their tops, and something made it look like they were dancing, now – the branches were waving goodbye happily. It felt like a sign of hope and good will for the future.

Zelda greeted us as we reached her, and I already felt prepared to tell her everything that had happened since she'd left. We were going to learn from this and work together to build a stronger Hyrule, one that would stand up against time just like the age-old forest.

I couldn't be more thankful to have both Ghirahim and Zelda at my side for it.

 **.**

 ***Screaming, Soup slams the manuscript down on your executive desk in front of you***

" **K THANKS HOPEYOULIKEDIT"**

 **I can't believe this is over. This is the first story I've ever posted online and finished, and although I know I won't have achieved nirvana for everyone I'm still really happy that I made it to the end.**

 **ALSO, I cannot BELIEVE how much feedback I got from you guys, I just**

 **asdfghjkl**

 **Thank you for reading all the way to the end. You're amazing.**

 **P.S., I promise I'll publish Ghirahim's backstory for this one day. As in, his story before Skyward Sword took place. It's already finished, I just want to rewrite some of it before I show you guys:3**

 **P.P.S. about other fics: BOUND is back! If I don't post the next chapter this weekend, then it'll definitely be up next weekend for you guys:3 Work in Progress isn't far behind, too.**

 **I like to think that over the almost** _ **seven months**_ **(dear lord) that it took me to finish this, I have improved as a writer. So I hope you all join me to grow with me as I continue my other fics:3**

 **Also heads up, I have three more Ghiralink fics that I've started messing about with and I want to start publishing _one of them_ (I think it would be unwise of me to have six incomplete fics on here all at once) – those three being a Beauty and the Beast AU, a Treasure Island AU, or a superhero AU.  Do any of you have a preference to which you might like to see me publish first? (I'm currently quite attached to the supers but it's the least developed of the three)**

 **P.P.P.S. i love you. *love heart appears above head***


End file.
